


Desk Job

by Zerabeth



Category: Borderlands, Borderlands the pre-sequel, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom, borderlands 2 - Fandom
Genre: A secret which is hinted at, AU, Claptraps and Reader get along, Everyone is very shocked and confused, Everyone will be making appearances, F/M, Gen, Reader destroys her coworkers lives, Reader hates people, Reader is also bipolar apperently, Reader is sadistic, Reader is very antisocial, Reader loves robots, Reader's true profession is a secret, Reader-Insert, She still hates people but not necassarily those she likes??, Siren Reader, Slow Burn, So just slightly canon-divergent AU, This is technically an AU of Borderlands but Pre-Sequel BD2 and TFBD remain the same, sarcastic reader, very slow burn, with mentions/additions of reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-05-17 03:51:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5852908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerabeth/pseuds/Zerabeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You liked your job on the robotics floor, quiet and away from people, with nobody telling you what to do, aside from the occasional project of course. It was still work, regardless of the countless Karaoke and dancing competitions, and poker breaks the Claptraps would drag you into, the occasional loader bot or two joining in. </p><p>Everything was great, but then you got a new boss.</p><p>Stupid Fucking Hyperion Programmer Jack. </p><p>If he thought he was helping, he was immensely mistaken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 You hadn’t worked at Hyperion very long when you first heard about Jack, he was just a programmer that had made his way through the treacherousness that was the corporate ranks. You only heard about him because he was to be your new boss, you were a bit shocked when you received the news, if you were honest. 

 

 You were just an artist really, you mostly designed logos or came up with new designs for the company. Though, you were also a programmer, an AI programmer specifically. You worked closely with the claptrap units, and normally, very, very far away from people. 

 

 Hence the shock. 

 

 You didn’t do people, in both terms of the word. You didn’t do well around them, or with them. You were happy to work around the robots, normally only seeing people at lunch, for a total of ten or twenty minutes a week. It wasn’t  _ healthy _ , per se. 

 

 Let’s be honest, you didn’t care about your social health all that much. 

 

 Once more, there was a  _ reason  _ you worked as an AI programmer. That reason just so happened to be that you hated people. 

 

 So you were very unhappy with your new ‘promotion’, since as far as you were concerned, it was a  _ demotion,  _ you had worked so  _ hard  _ to be as far away from your fellow humans as possible. Then somebody had to go and  _ screw it up _ by getting  _ fired _ , so Jack got his position and then got all his employee information, then decided he  _ didn’t like _ that one of his employees was working so  _ far away _ from everybody else. So, Jack decided to  _ move you _ . Into an  _ office _ . Surrounded by  _ other people _ . 

 

 You screamed when you found out. Then proceeded to be comforted by the awkwardness that was the Claptraps. You  _ loved  _ them, an opinion you were sure no one particularly shared. They tried to cheer you up with their attempts at dubstep and dancing and just their overall  _ claptrapness _ , that you couldn’t help but forget about why you were angry in the first place. 

 

 Then, some people showed up to move all your stuff up to your _ new office _ , and you were angry all over again. 

 

 What an emotional roller coaster. 

 

 The next day, you spent half an hour letting yourself be distracted by some claptraps before you had to head to your  _ office _ . The word made you a little sick, you were  _ not  _ looking forward to your new working arrangements. All the robots down in your previous workplace were well aware of this fact, which was how you ended up being a few minutes late. Of course by a few minutes you meant an hour. The Claptraps did not want you to leave, so you had to promise each and every one that you would come and visit before they finally let you leave. 

 

 So, you ended up in your office an hour after you were supposed to start working, and  _ got away with it _ . Thank goodness the ‘I got lost’ excuse existed. You settled in your new swivel-chair and proceeded to angrily take in your surroundings. It wasn’t awful at least, the office you were given was very pleasing to look at. Light brown walls, dark hardwood floors, or fake wood, either way they it was very nice. Though you were going to have to get a rug, for underneath your desk at least. 

 

 For reasons. Specifically, so you can take off your shoes and have something soft and fuzzy for your feet to sit on. 

 

 What can you say, you were used to your creature comforts. Especially after almost two months of being able to decorate and do whatever you liked as long as you stuck to your deadlines. After all, if there was one place everyone on Hyperion was scared of, it was the Claptrap floor. Something you were  _ really  _ going to miss. You resigned to at least  _ try  _ and feel comfortable with your new working arrangements. Which was going to be a  _ long  _ process. You thought your first day was going as well as could be expected however, you got quite a bit of programming done, more than would be possible in your old workspace. 

 

 Seeing as how every five minutes a Claptrap would roll up and ask you to play a game with them, or ask if you wanted to hear their new mix, or see a new dance move, or judge their dance contest, or ask what you thought of their drawing and-. You  _ really  _ loved those stupid machines. You shook your head as you thought of the robots for the upteenth time. You noticed the time and got up to get lunch, or what  _ should’ve  _ been lunch but ended up being a mug of tea. Since you weren’t particularly hungry,  _ and  _ some of your Claptrap’s had brought you some of your favorite tea, which they had apparently had one of the loader bots help them with. They all stood around you as you sipped from the mug, the tea turned out a bit too sweet but was actually very good. You thanked them and they all rolled away cheering. 

 

 “Ugh, those things are so annoying, I wish management would just get rid of them.” A female employee sneering, shoving a forkful of salad into her mouth. You froze, frowning as you turned to the table the employee sat at. You stepped over to the table and you saw her visibly perk up. “Oh, Hi! You're the new transfer right? I’m Sharon-” You cut her off with a dirty look.

 

 “Shut the fuck up,  _ Sharon _ . Don’t talk shit about  _ any  _ of the robots on this station, or we’ll be having some problems,  _ capiche _ ?” You growled, placing your hands on the table as you leaned over it, getting in Sharon’s face. Sharon nodded with wide-eyes, leaning away from you as she swallowed. 

 

 “Y-yes, m-ma’am,” Sharon stuttered as you removed yourself from her personal bubble. You nodded once and left the break room, muttering about how much you hated people. 

 

 Which was a lot.

 

 The next day was a lot better in your opinion, you spent most of your night on the Robotics floor, and the Claptrap’s got you a super fuzzy rug for your new office, promising to make you more of your favorite tea. 

 

 “Just less sugar this time, please?” You requested with a warm smile, they immediately agreed. You took the rug and wished them all goodnight before returning to your room. Which you were happy to say you had to yourself, in a very empty part of the Helios Space Station. Unfortunately however, it was slowly filling up, as more and more employees get stationed on Helios. 

 

 It was a small little thing, reminding you of college dorms in a way, but you had it too yourself, with a connected bathroom and small kitchen and dining area. You could also upgrade whatever, which is why you happened to have one of the nicest bathrooms on Helios. That no one knew about of course, you spent most of your paycheck on getting your jacuzzi tub, and it’d be a cold day in hell before anyone else so much as stuck a toe in it.  

 

 Anyway. Last night was really relaxing, is what you meant to say. You tended to get easily distracted. Or just  _ really  _ into reminiscing. 

 

 So, the next day you had set your rug down beneath your desk and you had thrown off your flats, squealing a little as you ran your toes through the faux fur. It was very nice. You neglected to go to the break room for lunch and the Claptraps found their way to your office, causes a ruckus, much to the delight of you, and the annoyance of your coworkers. Which really just put you in great mood. You were able to work through the rest of the day at a quick pace, finishing the project you were working on two days before schedule. It was the first time that had ever happened, if you were honest. 

 

 It was a lot easier to work without Claptraps around the entire time. You ended up working long past everyone else had left, if the lights shutting off was any indication. You looked up blinking, the lights only turned off after eleven, to conserve the Station’s power. You shook your head and saved your work, turning off your computer and slipping your shoes back on. You made your way out of the room, locking the door to your scant office room and heading past the many other offices. You noticed a light on, down the hall where your boss worked. Where Jack worked. 

 

 You debated whether or not to inform him of the time, he might not realize the time, like you. Or he was purposely working late, and if that was the case, you didn’t want to bother. You groaned, and decided to check. Worse case senario, you interrupt him while he’s doing something. You made your way down the hall, running a hand through your hair nervously before taking a breath and opening Jack’s door. 

 

 “Sir,” You called, startling Jack. Jack jumped a bit in his chair, turning away from his computer to look at you.

 

 “Oh, Ms. Adair! The transfer from the Robotics floor, can I help you? I was in the middle of-” Jack was frowning as he gestured to his computer before you interrupted him.

 

 “It’s eleven o’clock, Sir. I just wanted to make sure you aware of that, I’m going to bed now. Goodnight,” You spoke quickly, turning away and rushing down the hall, the door echoing as it shut. You made it to your room relatively quickly and threw your flats at the wall, jumping into bed without changing.  _ Maybe  _ you made a mistake in interrupting Jack, but he didn’t seem to mind. He  _ was  _ only an accountant, anyway. Of course, you didn’t exactly give him a chance to voice any objections. So.. You shook your head, there was no point worrying about it. You needed to sleep, you promised a few loader bots to have breakfast with them. 

 

 A large breakfast, judging from the growl that came from your stomach. You shouldn’t get into a habit of skipping lunch. 

 

 The rest of the week went by pretty uneventfully, you ignored your coworkers and continuously invited Claptraps to your office for lunch, so you could nurse the seeds of hatred. You got a mug of tea once or twice a day, or whenever a Claptrap unit could convince a loader bot to help them make a cup. You probably shouldn't throw around the word as much as you do, but you  _ love _ your robots. 

 

 At the end of the week, you had settled into your new office, and completely ignored all the specifics of room decoration, putting up curtains to block out coworkers, wearing slippers from your room, getting a blanket for your chair.. You weren't the most professional programmer, you'll admit. 

 

 Though you swore it was the fault of spending so much time with Claptrap units. Since they were the ones who brought you the decorations in the first place, it shouldn't matter that you  _ asked _ them to. 

 

 Of course the management didn't care about that, and proceeded to put a mark on your record. You were not amused. 

 

 "I guess I'll just have to have the Claptrap units bring me tea and have lunch with me in the break room then, since I can't have any privacy in my office," You hummed, smiling widely. The woman who was previously ordering you to take down your curtains and wear proper shoes froze in place, a look of horror darkening her features. 

 

 "F-feel free to decorate as you like!" The woman squeaked, dashing out of the door. You smirked in victory and reclined in your cheer, pulling your legs up as you pulled out your sketch pad. You had a job to do, after all. Now the annoying management was out of your hair. 

 

 "Hey, hey, hey! I made a new dance up just for you!"  a blue Claptrap rolled through your door, waving his arms, a purple Claptrap barreling after him. 

 

 "W-wrong, I made the d-dance for her!" Purple declared, rolling over and wrapping his arms around around the armrest of your chair. 

 

 You laughed, putting away your sketchbook. 

 

 "Hey, kiddos, what're you guys doing up here?" You asked, leaning forward to give the two your full attention. 

 

 “To show you the dance! Nobody downstairs wanted to see, so we’re showing you!” Blue shouted, rolling back and forth in front of your desk. 

 

 “Well, go on.” You motioned for the two to dance, Purple one releasing the arm of your chair as he went to stand beside Blue. You laughed as you watched them do the silliest dance ever. Although, you suppose it was actually pretty good in relation to Claptraps. 

 

 “What the hell.” You looked away from the Claptraps to see a very confused Jack in your doorway.

 

 “They made a dance for me, they’re showing it to me,” You explained, giving your boss a hard look. Jack looked slightly surprised. 

 

 “Hold on, you  _ like  _ these garbage cans?” Jack asked, perking a perfect eyebrow. You shook your head, did you just think of his eyebrows as perfect? You did a double take, looking over Jack’s face. Well, they’re pretty perfect.. Jack looked at you with an expectant look, waiting for a response.

 

 “Uh, yeah. They’re pretty cool,  _ for garbage cans _ ,” You drawled, looking angry as you completely forgot about your inner monologue from a moment ago. 

 

 “That’s new.  _ Anyway _ , I need you in my office, thanks.” Jack strolled out of your door, without even waiting for a response. You blinked after him, glaring at the door. 

 

 “I hate people,” You grumbled, getting up from your desk. “How bout’ you guys show me the dance at lunch time, is that okay? I have to go meet with my boss, apparently.” 

 

 “B-but, we w-wanted to show you it now,” Purple complained, letting his arms hand at his sides, appearing very distressed. You sighed.

 

 “I know, but at lunch I’ll have time to tell you how great it is!” You persuaded.

 

 “Alright! See you at lunch!” Blue wheeled out with Purple dejectedly following behind. You felt a little bad,  _ a little _ . You took a deep breath and left your office, heading down to Jack’s office. 

 

 You really hoped you weren’t about to be fired. You didn’t think you would get fired because you interrupted your boss at  _ eleven o’clock at night _ . 

 

 But,  _ this was Hyperion _ . 


	2. Geez

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you get a new job, again, and Jack is the cause of all your problems, again.

 “What is it you wanted to talk to me abo-” Jack interrupted you with hand motion. 

 

_ Well  _ then. 

 

 “This is your work, right?” You looked up to the screen in Jack’s office, recognizing your programming work on the screen, you nodded slowly. You opened your mouth to asked why it mattered but Jack cut you off again. “Great! You’re going to be my new personal assistant, kiddo!” Jack beamed at you.

 

 Hold on. 

 

 This guy wanted you to spend  _ more  _ time with  _ people _ ?

 

 Specifically, with  _ him _ ? 

 

_ No _ freaking way.

 

 “ _ No, thank you, _ ” You responded quickly, turning on your heel and walking off with a blank expression.

 

 “Hold on there, cupcake. You can’t just say ‘no’, and walk out on-”

 

 “Sir, I believe I retain my right to refuse a promotion.  _ So _ , thank you but  _ no thank you _ , now  _ please _ let me go back to my office and do my work in  _ peace _ ," You ground out as politely as possible before speed walking towards your office. 

 

_ Now _ , that would've worked for anybody else, but unfortunately for you, Jack was  _ observant _ . 

 

 “I’ll give you a cubicle if you don’t accept.” You froze, blinking for several moments before slowly turning to look at the sadistic man behind you. 

 

 This little piece of absolute-

 

  "I'm waiting for a response, kiddo. You've got ten seconds."

 

 Everyone was against you it seemed. 

 “Oh,  _ fuck you _ . Fine, I don’t know why you want an  _ AI programmer  _ as your  _ personal assistant _ , but whatever,” You growled, glowering at Jack as he smirked in victory.

 

 “That’s my business,  _ cupcake _ .” Jack winked and walked away, leaving a very grumpy you behind. 

 

_  You'd show him a ducking cupcake.  _

 

 That didn't make much sense but,   _ still _ . 

 

 You huffed and stomped down the halls. It was better than a cubicle you supposed. 

 

 All those  _ people _ .. 

 

 Fuck Jack, seriously. Though, not really, just- you were not mentally healthy right now. 

 

 “I need some goddamn tea,” You grumbled, leaving the offices without a word and heading down to the robotics floor.

 

 You had some dancing to critique after all.

 

 Also, there were no people on the robotics floor. 

 

 Thank the maker. 

 

 **

 

 You ended up spending the rest of your day on the robotics floor, you even ate lunch! Of course it was more stress eating than anything but  _ whatever _ . 

 

 You went back to your office the next day only to find out it had been moved. You glowered at the empty room and stomped to Jack's office. 

 

 "Hey there cupcake, probably wondering where all your stuff got moved to, don't worry though. I made sure it all got moved to your  _ new _ office. Right next to mine!" Jack exclaimed, grinning. 

 

 "I fucking hate human beings," You grumbled in response, turning out of Jack's office. 

 

 "I know!" Jack's voice followed you out the door. You walking into you office and screamed, ignoring Jack's smug smile from the window beside you. 

 

 You were  _ not _ okay with this, and he freaking  _ knew _ it. 

 

 You reclined in your chair and sat there, staring at the ceiling for about ten minutes until a ping from your computer got your attention. 

 

_ Fucking _ -

 

 'You should really be getting to work now kiddo, don't want to end up with  _ extra hours _ or anything.' A chat bar glared at you from the corner of your monitor, and you suddenly really wanted to throw it through the window that Jack was smirking at you from. 

 

 You were going to  _ die _ .

 

 Or  _ Jack _ was. 

 

 Or  _ maybe _ you could just do your work, get paid, and antagonise your coworkers. 

 

 You preferred the last option for some reason. 

 

 So, you opened up your work and began typing, following the guideline Jack had  _ oh-so-kindly  _ relayed to you via the messenger. You were very confused as to why he wanted an AI interface that someone could use to interact with various shit on Pandora, but hey, it wasn't any of  _ your _ business. 

 You stopped when your monitor pinged again and you noticed a message from Jack, informing you that it was lunch time and that he would like to try some of the tea you always have. 

 

 "Sure thing," You grumbled, kicking your chair back and pushing yourself off your desk, you made your way to the lunchroom to get some mugs of hot water. Cause if you were making tea for  _ him _ , you were sure as  _ hell _ making some for yourself too. 

 

 In the middle of waiting for the water to heat up, you spotted someone that made you smile. 

 

 "How's your day,  _ Sharon _ ?" You inquired with a smirk. 

 

 "Um, good. Everything is good.." Sharon sputtered, looking down at her salad and avoiding eye contact. 

 

 "That's awful, Sharon. You should be having a  _ great _ day, doll face," You grinned, sitting down across from the blonde. 

 

 "I uh- did I say good? I meant great! Yeah, everything is great!" Sharon nervously smiled at you, avoiding your eyes. 

 

 "Oh, well how could it be great if it is only halfway over Sharon, honestly. Aren't you just a bundle of  _ optimism _ ," You commented, leaning over the table. A beep that indicated the water was heated up caught your attention. You took an orange slice from Sharon's salad and got up. "I'll see you later, kiddo." You waved your hand as you filled up the mugs and left. 

 

 You stopped by your office to grab your tea bags and put them in the mugs, adding a bit of sugar and honey that you kept in your office, for  _ reasons _ . 

 

 Then you went next door and went to Jack's door, knocking but not waiting for a response as you entered. You placed his mug on his desk. 

 

 "Your tea, sir." Without a word you plopped into the comfortable looking couch against the wall of Jack's office. Turns out, it is more comfortable that it looks. 

 

 "I didn't say you could sit down," Jack spoke with a raised eyebrow, looking at you. You shrugged. 

 

 "You didn't say I couldn't either," You responded, stretching out your legs. 

 

 "Hmm." Jack seemed to let it drop and tentatively sipped from mug you had placed on his desk. It was blue like his  _ stupid _ eye, while yours was black like your  _ soul _ . 

 

 You resisted the urge to snort at that thought but couldn't stop the smile that came to your face as you idly drank from your own mug. 

 

 "This is actually pretty good, what's this flavor?" Jack asked after a moment, turning to you. 

 

 "Bavarian blackberry. It's one of my favorites actually," You responded easily. You noticed Jack nodding from the corner of your eye. 

 

 It went on like that for several weeks, you would do a bunch of programming, hardly do any art, then have tea with Jack during lunch after antagonizing your coworkers- specifically Sharon, for a few minutes. Then you would normally have dinner or something on the robotics floor, except Sunday. Sunday was poker night, you won almost every week. 

 

 You were used to your schedule again when Jack decided to complete trash it,  _ again _ . 

 

 You were setting down Jack's mug of tea, like every other day and moving to sit on the couch, like you always did. Then Jack grabbed your arm, and you nearly spilt your tea. You turned to Jack with an annoyed and confused expression. 

 

 "I'm gonna need you to do something for me, kiddo. But you have to keep quiet about it, alright?" Jack looked serious, which was an expression you had yet to see on him, so instead of arguing or asking what was so important, you simply nodded. "I need you to hack into Hyperion for me," Jack spoke slowly, as if the greeting the words as soon as he said them. 

 

 He wanted you to  _ what _ ? 

 

 "I know this is a really-" 

 

 "Hell yes," You cut Jack off, this time it was him with a confused expression. "You're asking me to hack into Hyperion as my _boss_ , and since I can just talk you through it instead of getting the blame myself, _hell_ _yes_ ," You explained, beaming as you moved to stand next to Jack. 

 

 You didn't care if it was lunch time, you were doing this  _ now _ . Jack sputtered something but you ignored him, minimizing several things and opening other things as you took over his keyboard, half leaning over him to use it. 

 

 "Cute kid," You commented, noticing the picture as pulled away from the keyboard. 

 

 "Uh, thanks? What's-" 

 

 "I'm teaching you how to hack, Jack," You explained, gesturing to the monitor. 

 

 "I got that but-" 

 

 "You should learn anyhow, if you want to be head of Hyperion, which I  _ know _ you do, I  _ have _ known you for like three months now." Jack frowned at you but didn't deny it. "So, first things first-" You proceeded to show Jack how to hack for the next several hours, he knew some of it, but you were able to help him do it a lot quicker and better. 

 

 Then you did the same thing every other day, for the next two weeks. Jack was a fast learner, which explained how he was so easily able to making his way through the Corporate ranks. 

 

 It was kind of admirable, not that you'd ever tell him so. 

 

 You were glad to help him, but when he had learned everything you had tried to go back to the schedule of tea at lunch after antagonizing coworkers, and he had locked his door. 

 

 You were alarmed at first. Also, kind of.. hurt? You had stood at the door for several minutes, just blankly staring with the two mugs in your hands. After twenty or so minutes, you returned to your office, placing down both mugs, neglecting to drink the tea as you noticed the window was covered on Jack's side, blocking your view of his office. 

 

 You felt like someone had just thrown a Maliwan with a full clip at you,  and it had hit you in the chest. 

 

 Then it stuck and you realized you felt betrayed. 

 

 You thought of Jack as a  _ friend _ . 

 

 You  _ also _ felt like you might throw up. 

 

 "I need to go antagonize someone, I don't like these  _ warm _ and  _ confusing _ feelings," You decided, thinking out loud. You strolled out of your office, walking towards management, since you had no idea where Sharon worked. 

 

 Thus, three minutes later you found yourself at the desk of your favorite officer: Deborah- or as you liked to call her, Debs. 

 

 "Hey Debs, any dirt today?" You asked, dragging over a chair and sitting down, back forward. 

 

 "No, please stop asking," Debs responded smoothly. 

 

 "Well you know that ain't gonna happen, sweetcheeks," You sung, tapping her nose. 

 

 "Please stop," Debs said quietly, apparently trying very hard to do her work and ignore you. 

 

 You didn't like to be ignored. 

 

 You  _ also _ didn't like people but they were very easy to manipulate for an amusing result, which was why you subjected yourself to their presence when you were particular bored--or in this case, bored. 

 

 You don't know why you constantly felt the need to remind yourself you hated human beings. But you did, and there was little you could do about it. 

 

 You hummed quietly to yourself, debating whether or not to further annoy Debs. Then, you felt a buzz at your hip. It took your several seconds to realize it was your Echo device. 

 

 You slowly retrieved the rarely used communicator. You used to use it to communicate with your family from back home, so you always had it with you, but since they became increasingly busy with their own lives, you hadn't used it. Though you did continue to carry it around, out of habit. 

 When you brushed off the screen and turned it on from low-power mode, you were surprised to find an image of Jack flashing at you. 

 

 "Hey kiddo, what happened to tea time?" Jack asked sounding amused, you blinked dumbly at the device before leaving a very shocked looking Debs behind and going into the hall. 

 

 "Your door was locked," You responded slowly, brushing clingy dust away from your Echo device. 

 

 "You could've knocked, kiddo."

 

 "I don't like knocking, I prefer walking around like I own the place," You muttered sarcastically. Jack laughed, making you smile. 

 

 "Well I'm afraid you don't own the place, cupcake. I do though," Jack informed cheerfully. You froze, blinking down at your Echo device, thinking it might even been a speaker error. 

 

 "You own Helios?" You were suddenly very confused, just what was this accountant up to? 

 

 "Well, I'm in charge of it. Thought you knew, kiddo," Jack responded, as if it was the most obvious thing ever. You snorted. 

 

 "Last I checked, you were just an accountant,  _ dollface _ ." If he was gonna use his pet names on you all the time, you were going to use yours on him. You were rewarded with another laugh. 

 

 "Well, technically I still am, I'm just also in charge of Helios. Apparently the other guy was spending  _ Hyperion _ money  _ for the station _ on some  _ crazy _ things. Or something. I reported it, and they decided I was responsible enough for the job." So  _ that's _ what he wanted you to hack into Hyperion servers for. Well, what  _ he _ hacked into Hyperion servers for, since you had shown him how to do it instead of doing it yourself. 

 

 "That's why your door was locked, though I don't know why you would cover the window, not like I was about to say anything about it. I showed you how to do that in the first place," You grumbled. 

 

 "Well- oh, shut up. Just bring tea." Jack hung up and your Echols screen went dark once more. You smiled and went to make two new mugs of tea. 

 

 You  _ liked _ your new schedule. 

 

 You liked  _ Jack _ . 

 

 As a  _ friend _ . 

 

_ Geez _ . 


	3. New Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets a new office, things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not precisely afternoon like I promised, but still Saturday!   
> Barely..
> 
> I'm easily distracted.
> 
> Sorry.

 Jack moved into a new office, so you were too. Although you were completely against moving all your junk again, so you forced a few employees into doing it for you. They were new, and completely gullible. You  _ were _ glad to be away from all the people however. 

 

 You hated people,  _ so _ much.

 

 You walked beside Jack into his new office, sending looks at everyone who watched the two of you heading towards the elevator.

 

 Everyone was so  _ nosey _ , of course they wouldn't be if they bothered you enough. Hah. 

 

 You  _ did not _ just make a pun based on your unending need to cut off noses.

 

 Actually you totally did, but it wasn't an  _ unending _ need.

 

 You pursed your lips as you entered the elevator, trying to change the topic of thought, you thought about what to expect of the new office. You knew it was going to be large, and that there wouldn’t be anyone else working up there, which was a godsend. For  _ both _ you  _ and _ all your poor coworkers that probably didn’t have the  _ fondest _ memories of you. 

 

 The elevator took it’s sweet time getting to the top floor, which was really annoying since there was nothing to look at but Jack, and  _ maybe _ the papers and storage drives in your arms. 

 

 Those aren't very interesting though, so the former will have to do,  _ unfortunately _ .

 

 “Will I be having my own office, or will I have to suffer through your  _ glorious _ presence all day?” You asked jokingly, having gotten close enough with Jack to act like your normal self. 

 

 “I’m afraid it’s the latter, pumpkin,” Jack responded easily. 

 

 “Of  _ course _ it is,” You muttered under your breath as the elevator slowed to a stop. 

 

 The amount of time it just took to get up to the office was  _ bull _ .

 

 “Maybe get some engineers to speed up the elevators, Jackie?” The doors slid open and the two of you exited.

 

 “I don't know, I kind of enjoy the long ride. No way for you to run off if you get uncomfortable,” Jack responded with one of his little grins. 

 

 “Ah, my suffrage amuses you?” You quipped.

 

 “Of course, sweetcheeks.”

 

 You “I'm going to punch you in the throat--better yet set a few claptraps on you.” 

 

 “See, this is why we get along so well,” Jack cooed, wrapping an arm around your soldiers.

 

 “Whatever buddy boy, let's just see this new office of yours.” You pulled Jack's arm off your shoulders and proceeded into his huge new office. You caught sight of the couch from Jack's old office and your desk and stuff in the corner. You immediately frowned.

_ Nope _ .

 

 “ _ What _ are ya doing there, cupcake?” Jack asked curiously.

 

 “Moving stuff.” 

 

 “Yes but,  _ what _ are you doing with my couch?”

 

 “It's mine now. I'll have to get a fridge up here..” You mumbled to yourself as Jack crossed his arms and watched you. 

 

 You  _ would've _ asked him to help as you struggled to push the couch across the giant room  _ but _ you didn't

 

 Let's be honest, there was _no_ _way_ you would have. 

 

 You're too  _ prideful _ , plus he's a dick right now since  _ he _ should've  _ offered _ .

 

 You gave up halfway and proceeded to push your desk towards the couch instead. Jack just raised an eyebrow. 

 

 Which were still perfect, by the way.

 

 …

 

_ Who _ were you talking to?

 

 You shook your head and became aware of the cords that plugged into the wall from our computer, which was on the desk. You stared forlornly at the broken monitor, ignorant of Jack's laughing from nearby.

 

 Okay, you were  _ very _ much aware of it.

 

 “Shut up, it was like 50 bucks, probably. Shut up--we like manufacture this crap!” You shouted, throwing a pen at Jack, who early dodged it and continued laughing. “I'm going down to tech and getting a new monitor, I hate you,” You grumbled, huffing and walking back to the elevator.

 

 It took fifteen minutes to get to tech, and you proceeded to sit around for another half an hour, waiting for someone to bring you a new monitor. Eventually you got tired of waiting and bust into the factories and grabbed a monitor off the line.

 

 “Thanks,” You called, carrying the large monitor back to the elevator.

 

 “Hey! You can't just take that!” A worker loudly yelled.

 

 “No? Too fucking bad, kiddo. I just did.” You waved as the doors slid closed and made your way back to Jack's office--which was  _ technically _ yours as well.

 

 Technicalities make you wanna slam your head into a damned  _ wall _ . A  _ concrete _ wall.

 

 “Hey, cupcake, what too you so long?” Jack asked as soon as you stepped into the room.

 

 “Tech. It fucking sucks,” You responded sweetly, placing your new monitor next to the couch and moving to disconnect all the cords before proceeding to continue shoving your desk to the couch.

 

 “Need some help there, kitten?” Jack asked, peering at your from his desk, resting his head against his palm.

 

_ Fianally _ .

 

 “ _ Yes _ ! Took you long enough to ask!” You all but shouted, pushing off the desk and turning to look at Jack with your hands on your hips.

 

 “Well you could've just asked, kid-” You held up a hand to cut Jack off.

 

 “Don't call me kiddo, that's  _ my _ word. Just get over here and help. Please.” 

 

 “No no no no no, that's not  _ your _ word,  _ kiddo _ . You don't just  _ get _ a word, besides, I used it first.”

 

 “No, you couldn't  _ possibly _ know that you used that word  _ before _ me. Also, I can  _ totally _ get a word, like ‘ _ dollface _ ’, that's  _ my _ word. Then, ‘cupcake’ and ‘kitten’ are  _ your _ words.” You found yourself using vague handmotions, gesturing towards yourself and Jack in turn.

 

 “No, nuh uh. People don't  _ get _ words. Unless they're patented, and ‘kiddo’, ‘dollface’, ‘kitten’, and ‘cupcake’ aren't patented. You can't just  _ own _ nicknames, kiddo-” 

 

 “Then why so you use them a often, huh? If I were to say, ‘You're a fucking idiot, cupcake’, someone would probably say, ‘You sound like Jack’. Cause ‘cupcake’ is  _ your _ word, see?” You argued. Jack sighed and so hook his head.

 

 “This conversation is over.” Jack responded as he pushed your desk over to ‘your’ couch. You grumbled.

 

 Only for  _ now _ .

 

 ...

 

_ Kiddo _ .

 

 It took Jack two minutes to get your furniture situated compared to your ten minutes to get the couch halfway to your desk. Which successfully pissed you off.

 

 You then proceeded to grumpily plug in all the cords to your computer and monitor, then grumpily boot up said computer. You grumpily opened your emails and proceeded to stare at your screen for several minutes at a email. 

 

 ‘ _ Confirmation for Body Double _ ’.

 

 What.

 

 You looked up to Jack then back to your screen, you opened the email.

 

 ‘ _ This email is to confirm that a body double is to be made for- _ ’

 

_  What. _

 

_  ‘Timothy Lawrence, has volunteered for the experiment. _ ’

 

**_What._ **

 

 “The fuck.” Jack looked to you with a raised eyebrow. You stared at him.

 

 “What's-” You continued your long reputation for cutting Jack off mid-sentence.

 

 “First off: I know I'm your _assistant_ , but I _don't_ _know_ why I would get _this_ \- Second off: What the _actual_ fuck--do you need a _body_ _double_ for?!” You demanded.

 

 “Oh, _that_.” Jack laughed.

 

 “Yeah,  _ that _ .”

 

 “Well, I got big dreams, ya know? And somebody out there needs money, so out of the kindness of my heart-”

 

 “Your cold, cold heart. Should I send the confirmation for the experiment or forward the information to you?” You asked blankly.

 

 “Forward it, if you'd please.” Jack went back to his work and you forwarded the email to him.

 

 What the actual  _ fuck _ , Jack.

 

 You could not  _ deal _ with this shit.

 

 Okay, you could, but this is some bull.

 

 A ringing from nearby broke you from your thoughts. You looked over to see a phone on your desk. You picked it up.

 

 “Hello?” You called into the reciever.

 

 “Hello-” You sucked in a breath.  _ Tassiter _ . “-I have a job for you.” You frowned.

 

 **

 

 You unlocked the door to your apartment, pulling off your gloves and threw them into your trash bin, kicking off your shoes and your coat. You sighed as you pulled your hair out of it's ponytail. 

 

 You moved to your room and grabbed some clothes to change into and a towel. You moved to enter your bathroom when a knock on your door interrupted you.

 

_ Damnit _ .

 

 You placed your clothes and towel in a pile on your counter then moved to open your door, revealing Jack on the other side, looking uncomfortable.

 

 “Jack, can I help you?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

 “Uh.. canyoupleasehelpmewithAngel?” Jack rushed. 

 

 “Uh, one word at a time, please.” You noticed a spot of red on your shirt from the doornob. You frowned and folded it up to hide it. You looked back up as Jack sighed heavily.

 

 “Can you please help me with Angel? She needs help and she won't let me, so..” You blinked at your boss.

 

_ What _ .

 

 “Uh, sure?” 

 

**_What_ ** ?!  _ No _ ! Take it back, take it back, take it-

 

 Jack lit up at that, smiling.

 

 “Great! That's great, thanks so much! Can you come over right now?”

 

_ No _ .

 

 “Yeah, just let me change real quick..”

 

_ No no no no no _ .

 

 “Alright, well I'll just wait, then show you over.” You nodded dumbly and let Jack in before shutting your door and retrieving your clothes, leaving your towel on the counter.

 

 “Just give me two minutes,” You called back as you went to your bathroom and shut then the door. 

 

 You pulled on your leggings and sweater that you were  _ originally _ planning on relaxing in, then you left the bathroom and pulled on a pair of flats--rather your  _ only _ pair of flats. 

 

 Who needs flats when you own boots?

 

 You left your room and tapped Jack, who was sitting on you couch. 

 

 “Ready to go, cupcake?” Jack asked, looking over you--probably to make sure you were wearing something appropriate to meet his daughter, his nervousness from before gone--or just very well hidden.

 

 “Shut up, yes, take me to your  _ lair _ ,” You muttered sarcastically, walking over to your door. Jack laughed.

 

 “Follow me.” Jack took the lead as you locked your door, glaring at the red-tailed gloved that peeked out from your trash bin as the door swung closed. 

 

 At least Jack's not nosey..

 

 Now, to meet his daughter.

 

 …

 

_ How _ do you get yourself in these situations?

  
_ Ugh _ ..


	4. What a Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promised around noon, and it's 4. Welp. I'll update again this weekend to make up for my constant promise breaking.
> 
> Also, yay Sirens!

To say you were nervous about meeting Jack’s daughter would be an understatement .

You were _terrified_.

Let’s think this through.

First off, It was a _little_ weird for Jack to just show up and ask you to help his daughter, let alone _trust_ you with _helping_ his daughter, he didn’t even let people _see_ his daughter. So why were you about to meet her _and_ help her?

Second, what did she even _need_ help with in the first place? She was only like twelve or so, you believed.

You frozen for a second, frowning.

No _no no no no_.

You sighed and continued to follow silently behind Jack. You double checked your hair and face as you passed by one of the many reflective surfaces on the station.

It wouldn’t do for anything.. unseemly to be on you. You sniffed and remembered that you had to get ahold of Tassiter and tell him you had taken care of that job. As you returned your attention to your Boss, you wondered if he really trusted you enough to have you meet Angel. His Angel, his _daughter_ , his **_everything_**.

You’d known Jack about half a year now. _First_ , he was your boss that you wanted to strangle to death for moving you to an office, surrounded by _people_. Then, you became his personal assistant who apparently helped him become the boss of Helios, and you still wanted to strangle him. Just.. not to death? You huffed. What you meant to say was that Jack was the most _aggravating_ , _annoying_ , _arrogant_ -.

 _Breathe_.

He just always got on your nerves.

Of course you got on his nerves at times as well but the two of you normally got along, shockingly.

The two of you didn’t have a whole lot in common but your personalities meshed really well.

_Shockingly_.

Furthermore, you had spent almost everyday of the past six months with the brunette.  
  
That’s a long time. It’s a wonder you haven’t gotten tired of having tea with him every single day.

In reality it’s probably a testament to just _how much_ you like tea. Or how much you liked Jack, as a _friend_. Most likely the ~~latter~~ former.

You still didn’t like people, but you did admit to there being a select few humans who’s company you tolerated, or even enjoyed at times. Safe to say, most of that select few were your family members. Immediate family members. You weren’t fond of your distant family members.

Off topic.

You sighed once more as Jack stopped in front of a set of doors.

“Here we are, ready, cupcake?” Jack turned to you as he waited for your response.

No _no no no no_. _Abort, abort._

You nodded and Jack opened the door.

Abort, _abort_.

“Angel! Can you come here please?” Jack called, ignorant to your internal screaming.

Not prepared. _Not prepared_.

The sound of footsteps caught your attention, and a doe eyed eleven years old blinked up at you from the doorway.

So much cuter than the picture.

Angel had her eyes on you immediately, looking very nervous suddenly.

She has Jack’s eyes- well, _eye_.

You glanced at Jack’s eyes for a moment, then returned to looking over Angel.

Why does he keep her so isolated from everyone else?

“Say hello, Angel.” Jack had apparently introduced you to the adorable kid in front of you while you were distracted with your thoughts.

“Hello..” Angel greeted quietly, fidgeting with her hands.

“Hey, doll. Nice to meet you!” You responded with a smile, crouching down to meet her height. You noticed Jack watching you out of the corner of your eye.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Angel said, looking down at her hands. You wondered if she was shy because she didn’t get to be around others often, or because of something else.

“So, I heard you needed help with something, but you wouldn’t let your dad help?” You asked tentatively, momentarily reminded of your nephew as Angel pursed her lips and looking between you and Jack. Angel nodded minutely.

_Did she just look to Jack for permission or something?_

“Erm, please follow me.” Angel turned on her heel and disappeared through the doorway.

So _polite_.

You looked to Jack.

“Trust me alone with your kid, kiddo?” You asked jokingly, standing back up.

“Yes, actually,” Jack responded seriously, shockingly you as he was looking at the doorway Angel had disappeared through. You took a moment to regain yourself and moved to follow after Angel.

“I’ll try to make sure it’s not misplaced, Jack.” You smiled as you reached Angel, finding her sitting in what you assumed to be her room. You took a moment to look it over.

There was a picture of Jack and her on the little white nightstand next to a lava lamp and a box of markers. Her bed was a bit bigger than a twin, and sat horizontal against the wall with three or so stuffed animals among her pillows. The room was mostly light blue and white and you were a bit surprised at the lack of toys and such, aside from the dozen or so stuffed animals she had scattered around.

“Um, I don’t-“ Angel huffed and frowned.

Please don’t say what I think your going to say. Please, _please_ , **_please_**.

“I’m a Siren,” Angel rushed, looking nervously up at you. You choked.

 _That’s_ **_worse_**.

“I have a hard time controlling my powers and my dad tries to help but since he’s not Siren, he can’t really help me and-“ You stopped breathing.

He.. _knows_?

That _mother_ _fucker_.

Your gonna be having a chat with this kids dad later it seems.

“I don’t know why he would get-“ You sighed and placed your hand over Angel’s mouth.

“Angel, kid. Your dad thinks I can help you,” You muttered quietly, looking into Angel’s blue eyes.

“But how- Oh!” Angel stared at you with wide eyes until she burst into giggles. “You can help me!” Angel cried, sounding relieved.

“Yeah but your going to need to listen to me real carefully kiddo, can you do that?” Angel nodded eagerly and you ran a hand through your ponytail, sighing heavily.

How long had it been since you had used your Siren abilities _just_ the _use_ them?

You flexed your fingers, hoping you wouldn’t drain yourself by doing this. You took a deep breath and let the familiar feeling of cold wash over you. You heard a quiet gasp and you opened your eyes to peer at Angel, not having realized you closed them. You noticed her gaze on your face, a look of awe in her eyes.

“You’re beautiful..” Angel breathed, reaching out and running her fingers along the designs that contrasted against your skin. You froze beneath the touch.

“Thank you very much, doll. It’s not much, but I need to know if my Siren powers are compatible with yours. If not, I can still help you control them but it will be more dangerous, alright?” Angel nodded, breaking her gaze from your Siren tattoos. “Alright, doll. I need you to activate your powers, do you know how to do that?” Angel pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

“I think so. I’ve done it before, I normally just think about it. But it doesn’t work if I’m scared of them, then they.. hurt people,” Angel said, voice breaking and looking at the floor with a frown.

 _Nope_. Don’t cry, I can’t do tears kid. I already can’t believe I’m doing _this_ right now.

You awkwardly set a hand on Angel’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry Angel, I’m here to help, alright?” You said gently.

Is this helping?

Angel looked up at you with watery eyes and a big smile.

Oh _thank_ _the_ _maker_.

Angel took a deep breath and shut her eyes, biting her lips as she focused on awakening her Siren powers. You stood quietly in front of Angel for several minutes as you waited.

After a rather long silence you could feel Angel’s Siren powers activate as they immediately pushed against your own. You gasped sharply, backing away from the small Siren. You could feel the pressure all around you as Angel opened her eyes back up, her facial expression turning scared as soon as she saw you.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I shouldn’t of-“ You held up your hand and shook your head.

“Nuh uh, kiddo. Don’t go getting worried or scared you’ll hurt me. I’m fine. Your Siren abilities are just trying to overpower mine, I expected this. Just- just hold on,” You placated, taking a deep breath.

You’re going to be exhausted later.

You’re regretting this ~~completely~~ \- _almost_ completely.

You closed your eyes and used your own abilities to push against the aura Angel emitted and proceeded to let your aura wash over hers.

“This is.. uncomfortable,” Angel said almost immediately. You laughed softly and prodded at her aura with your own.

 _Perfect_!

“Still just uncomfortable, doll?” You asked, opening your eyes to see Angel grimacing.

“Yes.” Angel pouted up at you, you smiling.

“Good. Your abilities are compatible with mine, that’ll make this a lot easier. For now, I’m just going to dampen your abilities with my own, since I’m not able to help too much right now. Training you would take longer than a few hours anyway,” You explained as Angel beamed up at you with bright eyes. “I’m going to place the dampener now, alright? It’ll feel a lot like a big blanket wrapped around you. It might be a bit suffocating at first, ready?” Angel nodded in confirmation. You briefly wondered if you should ask Jack if you could place dampener on his daughter.

…

 _Nah_.

You walked very to Angel and placed your palm on her forehead, channeling your abilities and focusing on stifling Angel’s aura. You heard a choked sound and looking down at Angel with a frown as she squeezed her eyes shut and her breathing quickened. You removed your hand and after several minutes of fretfully watching Angel, her breathing returned to normal and her abilities went dormant once more.

You breathed a sigh of relief. _Good_.

“Alright, doll. You should be good for now, your abilities shouldn’t act up, but if they do I’ll be able to tell and come help,” You said, patting the eleven year old’s ebony hair and let your siren powers go dormant.

“Thank you so much!” Angel cried, launching herself at you and knocking you to the ground.

Oh, wonderful. Affection. You awkwardly hugged the eleven years old back.

What a night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: What the fuck Jack


	5. Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happens

“How’s it going in here?” Jack asked, pushing open the door. You looked up to the door from your place on the ground with a small ebony haired child wrapped around your torso.

“Pretty good, feeling pretty grounded though,” You responded sarcastically. Angel laughed at that and Jack shot her a fond smile. You froze subconsciously, eyes on Jack.

Wow.

You’d known Jack for half a year and you’d never seen him smile like that. Smirk, grin, flash his teeth, but never smile. It was distracting, it was magnificent.

You shook your head and wrapped your arms around Angel, maneuvering her in your grasp so you could get up.

“Dad, she’s going to help me! She’s going to train me and I everything’s going to be great cause she’ll come over all the time and she’ll be my friend and-“ Angel’s shouting was cut off by a laugh from Jack.  
  
“Calm down there, doll. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” You interrupted as you set the eleven year later down. Angel nodded and smiled at you. You inwardly sighed.  
  
You were not expecting this when you got back to Helios. You were just going to have a nice hot shower than sit down on your couch with some ice cream and watch a nice long movie that you’ve seen a few dozen times. You were not going to have Jack knocking at your door, leading you to his apartment, meeting his daughter, and becoming her Siren teacher.

Oh what a day.

“Well, I see no problem with her coming over every few days to train you,” Jack interrupted your thoughts, saying the word ‘train’ as if it was foreign to him. You noticed that he was crouched down in front of Angel, the fond smile from before gone and replaced by a small quirk of his lips. You sighed.

Kind of hard to imagine him as a father most of the time but, seeing him with his daughter, it was kind of hard to not see him as a father.

Jack stood up and turned to you, you glared at him, remembering that you had to have a talk with him.

“I’ll see you later Angel, I need to talk with your dad, yeah?” Angel nodded and hugged your legs.

“Goodbye!” Angel giggled and you left her room with Jack.

“I can’t believe you,” You hissed as soon as you got far enough away from Angel.

“Uh- whatcha talking about, kiddo?” Jack tried, you spun on your heel.

“You knew- you knew. You knew that I was a Siren and you didn’t say anything?” You shouted, pushing Jack against a wall.

“Calm down there, kitten. What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey I know you can kill me before I could say Helios but don’t worry I won’t say anything’?” Jack rushed, frowning.

“How long have you known, Jack?” You asked, voice clipped.

“Only since I hacked into Hyperion servers and set up the former president of this place,” Jack responded easily. Your grip faltered.  
  
Oh.

Not as trusting as you originally thought then.

“There was more than one reason your door was locked, wasn’t there?”

“You- I didn’t know what to think, secrets are normally kept because they’re dangerous, and your files are suspiciously empty. The files I did find said you were ‘Volatile’, and ‘Prone to outbursts of your Siren abilities’. That they were the reason you were moved to the robotics floor,” Jack explained, grimacing. You felt your eyes sting.

Idiot.

“You’re an idiot, Jack. If you don’t trust me then why? Why call me back, ask me about tea. Why let me meet your daughter, let me train her?” You demanded.

“I have known you for six months, cupcake,” Jack said in voice full of forced sarcasm. “After I thought about it, I realized that you had kept yourself from losing control for that long, longer than ever before-“ You sucked in a breath.

That was.. true, wasn’t it?

When was the last time you had went six months constantly surrounded by people, without having an outburst?

You reminded yourself to pay attention when you realized Jack was still talking.

“-you’re the only Siren I know of that’s relatively good, works for Hyperion, and has control over her powers. So, when Angel lost control again and refused to let me help, I went to you,” Jack finished, looking to you for a reaction. Your expression was unreadable as you thought about what Jack had said- or what you had caught anyway.

Your eyes still burned, but this time for a different reason.

“So, you do trust me?” You asked, hoping Jack didn’t take notice of the way your voice cracked.

“Unfortunately, you kind of forced it on me kiddo, what being so very likeable and all,” Jack joked. You snorted, feeling the atmosphere lose its tenseness.

“Please, you’re the one who forced me to be around people. And now I’m forced to spend every day with you!” You quipped, easily falling back into your usual banter, you blinked back tears.

Your sister didn’t even trust you alone with your nephew because of your Siren abilities and Jack was going to let you train his daughter.

You loved Jack.

As a friend.

Actually that’s too strong of a word, you thought as you threw up in your mouth a little.

Maybe that should be checked out, throwing up- however little; at the thought of affection seemed like a serious medical problem. You snorted.

As if you would willingly sit down with a stranger and let them look over you and touch you for who knows how long.

“Hey there, kitten. You still with me?” Jack called as he snapped his fingers in your face. You recoiled, blinking dumbly at the president of Helios station.

“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I’m possessed or something, you’d never know,” You muttered sarcastically, pursing your lips. Jack laughed and patted your shoulder.

“Sure think, sweet cheeks. Let’s get you home.” You scowled.

“Don’t call me sweet cheeks.”

“Stop using my word.”

“I thought people didn’t own words, Jack.”

“Then do when they’re your boss, baby.” Jack winked and you gagged, causing Jack to laugh. “Oh, kiddo, you are never leaving my side.” You blinked and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

What did that mean?

You couldn’t help but feel like it wasn’t anything good.

Then you couldn’t help but feel like you didn’t mind.

You shook your head and let Jack finish escorting you home before you went inside and took your shower that our were originally planning to do when you got home. Afterwards you slipped on some pajama bottom and a big t-shirt.

You tiredly made your way to your bed and all but collapsed onto it. You lied there in silence for several moments until your Echo caught your attention. You rolled over and grabbed in from your nightstand. You blinked at the name on the screen and accepted the call.

“I thought you’d never pick up,” A male complained through the speakers you laughed and rolled over with the Echo device in your grasp.

“I was planning on letting it ring, but it got too annoying,” You quipped in response. The male chuckled.

“Sure thing, sis. I doubt anything could be more annoying than your voice though, how’s your boring existence going? Still sad and single?” You snorted. “What am I saying? You’ll always be sad and single, just look at you.”

“Aw, I love you too, William. How is everyone?” You wondered, peering up at the dull grey ceiling of your Helios apartment.

“Mom is still angry at the world, Xavier still chases everything alive, and Mary is still climbing the social ladder like a pro, while raising the cutest little genius this side of the galaxy,” William informed.

“That’s good. I miss you guys,” You said softly, glancing at the picture of your brother that flashed at you from the Echo device.

“We miss you too, sis. But I gotta go right now, talk more later?”

“Yeah, sometime next week?”

“It’s a bet, bye-bye.” The device went dark and you gave a heavy sigh. You rolled over again and replaced the device on the nightstand. Then the flashing red light of a recorded message caught your attention. You sighed and reached out to press the button.

“Don’t think we won’t find you, Winter. Run and run and run. You can’t escape your destiny, and you can’t escape me. Just remember that the next time you go about your fever dream. Remember,” A raspy voice emitted from the device and you sucked in a breath, recoiling from the familiar voice.

No no no no no.

You fell off your bed and backed into a corner, shaking your head.

No.

You did not need your past coming back onto haunt you. Not again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: at least 3000 word chapter, more back story, more funny shit, no more angsty stuff
> 
> For now


	6. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up sleepy and angry, then it reflects on your day.

You got to sleep after you found your way back to bed, your exhaustion heavily contributing to your ability to even fall asleep in the first place.

The next morning you woke up exhausted and sore, your Siren abilities were definitely overused yesterday and the constant field over Angel didn’t help. You groaned and ran your fingers through your hair as you pushed up from your bed.

You regretted everything.

Or almost everything. Meeting Angel kind of helped and in some twisted way, Jack knowing about your abilities gave you some relief.

You thought about just emailing or echoing Jack that you weren’t going to work but you didn’t want to deal with the repercussions. So you reluctantly left your bed and put your hair up to rinse off in the shower before getting dressed for work.

You pulled on something loose and pulled on your most comfortable shoes so you would avoid being uncomfortable for the day.

It was the first official day in Jack’s new office and you were completely unprepared for it, and unprepared to be dealing with Jack for the next eight or so hours. You left your apartment and got halfway to the office when you had to double back and lock your door because you forgot to do it when you left. Then there was a malfunction with the elevator so you had to get a clap trap unit from nearby to fix it for you, then the claptrap malfunctioned and you had to call an engineer over.

You were not having a good day.

When you finally got to the office, Jack was already at his desk and you noticed that he had several book shelves brought in. You raised an eyebrow at that.

“I’m planning on bringing in some couches too, it looks nice right?” Jack said, crossing his legs over his desk. You eyed the engineers and mechanics that shuffled past you to the door then turned to Jack.

“Sure, Jackie. It looks great but you don’t need engineers for bookshelves,” You responded, resting a hand in your hip. Jack froze for a millisecond before his comfortable half-smile returned and he seemed to think about something for a moment.

“Probably because I’m putting in more than just a book shelf,” Jack laughed after a minute, you blinked.

“What the fuck are you putting in the wall, Jack? We’ve been in here a day.” You gave Jack a deadpan look and he had the decency to look a bit nervous as he found a sudden interest in his hands.

“Oh, just an airlock. For emergencies, you know?” You blanched.

“What the fuck is an airlock going to do in an emergency?!” Jack shrugged.

“You never know.” Was Jack’s nonchalant response.

“Why do I stay here?” You asked yourself as you shook your head and wandered over to your desk.

“Cause you don’t want to get fired?” Jack offered. You scoffed and all but fell onto ‘your’ couch.

“Fire me? That’s cute, doll. Just do your work and I’ll do mine.” You heard Jack snort as you booted up your computer, kicking off your flats and crossing your legs. Jack eyed your shoes and laughed as you flipped him off.

“You’re lucky your one of my favorite people, kiddo. Otherwise I’d be throwing you out my new airlock for doing that to me,” Jack commented with a grin.

“It’s not even done yet, kiddo. So shut up and let me program this AI thing you want so bad,” You grumbled, pulling your hair to the side and quickly braiding it.

Why did the ‘kiddo’ thing suddenly feel like some sort of weird inside joke between the two of you?

“..Bad day, cupcake?” You groaned and threw yourself back on the couch.

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” You muttered, frowning at the ceiling.

“Well then, stop moping and do your work, so I won’t have to ask stupid questions. Common sense, kiddo.” You glanced over to Jack and noticed he had returned to his own work. You sighed and rolled over so you were facing the back of the couch.

You ended up falling asleep without realizing it, only to wake up to two different colored eyes and an amused smirk.

“Have a nice nap, sweet cheeks?” Jack teased as he loomed over you.

“Call me that one more time and you’ll be the one getting thrown out of an airlock,” You responded easily, pushing his smug face away with your hand and getting up to stretch.

“It’s not even done yet,” Jack mocked with a grin as you groaned and started walking out of the office.

“Shut up, I’m getting tea.” With that, Jack returned to his desk and mockingly waved to you.

“Don’t take too long, kitten. Don’t want to miss tea time!” You sighed and shook your head, getting to the elevator and relaxing against the wall as it began the slow descent to the main floor.

Your opinion of the elevator was the complete opposite of what it was previously. You enjoyed the time all to yourself, where you didn’t have to worry about putting on your other face or trying to hide your exhaustion. You grumbled and pushed off the wall as the elevator slowed to a stop.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!” A claptrap called out to you, you blinked as you took a moment to recognize the little machine.

“Hello, O, how can I help you?” You asked, the silver claptrap all but glowed from the recognition.

“I made you tea,” O informed.

“We made her tea!” A loader bot called out along with a few other claptrap units, clamoring around to see your response no doubt.

You glanced down and noticed the mug they had carefully balanced in their grasp.

“So you did. Thank you, O,” You admonished, sipping tentatively. You smiled as you pulled the mug away from your lips. “It’s very good, I couldn’t have made it any better myself.” You beamed at O, then the group of claptraps that were bothering everyone. They cheered and you noticed two or three of them giving the loader bot a high five. You laughed and shook your head, feeling much better than you did moments ago.

O rolled over to the rest of the claptraps and the loader bot, cheering and chattering happily. You smiled and waved them goodbye, heading to get tea for Jack with some pep in your step. You hummed to yourself, ignoring the blatant propaganda of the company on all the walls. You briefly remembered seeing a picture of Tassiter in Jack’s new office and grumbled. The arrogance of some Hyperion employees will never cease to amaze you.

As you gazed at the fluorescent blown up portraits of Hyperion’s CEO you couldn’t help but think about seeing pictures of Jack instead of Tassiter.

…

Fuck.

That’s hilarious.

You snorted and burst into laughter practically curled over, wrapping both hands around your mug of tea to try and keep it steady.

He’d probably dramatize himself.

Oh, god.

You could picture it now, his heterochromic eyes blown up on some bill board.

‘John Jack, the newest face of Hyperion’.

Your laughter was renewed and lasted throughout the tea making process, little bursts of laughter escaping you as you thought of all the different things Jack would have everywhere, or when you thought about people shaping themselves in his image.

Goodness gracious.

What idiot would look up to Jack as a role model?

You fell into another fit, having to set down the mugs before you spilt the tea in them, completely ignorant of the strange looks the other employees were shooting you.

Of course you didn’t care for their judgmental stares either way, you could easily blow them(and half of Helios) away.

Or you could.

If you weren’t completely drained of energy.

Or keeping a constant field over Angel.

Okay, you lied. You are unable to blow anything away right now.

-oh lord, people dressing like Jack. You burst into another fit of laughter, making your way towards Jack’s office, laughing all the way.

You shook your head as you entered Jack’s office, setting his mug down on his desk. Then you pulled up one of the two chairs in front of his desk so you could sit down, since your couch was currently almost on the other side of the room, and that’s too far.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Jack said, perking an eyebrow. You shrugged off his inquisitive stare and sipped at your tea. Jack stared at you for several moments before sighing. “You gonna tell me why that is?” You shrugged and Jack grumbled. You laughed under your breath and resisted the urge to beam at the brunette.

You still felt a bit like death, but you were definitely happier than you were when you left.

“How does becoming my permanent assistant sound?” Jack asked suddenly after several minutes of silence, setting down his mug and turning to you for a response. You blinked at your mug for a moment before looking up to Jack.

Where did that come from?

“I thought I already was, Jack. It’s not like you can get rid of me anyway,” You responded in a song-song voice, leaning back in your chair with a smile. “Much better than being around people.” Jack laughed and went back to his tea, holding in with one hand while he clicked away at his monitor. You hummed quietly as you finished your tea.

Now then.

You set your empty mug down and dragged the chair to the I there side of Jack’s desk so you could look over his shoulder at his monitor.

Cause fuck boundaries.

“Whatcha doing there?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at all the code on the monitor.

“Just something for Research and Development, why are you breathing down my neck?” Jack turned in his nice cushioned swivel chair to look at you.

You wanted that chair.

Alas.

“There’s nothing better to do,” You said in response, shrugging and reclining back in the uncomfortable guest chair.

Was there a reason they were so uncomfortable, you wonder?

Knowing Hyperion, probably.

Jack tsked at you and shook his head.

“Isn’t there programming you should be doing?”

“Isn’t there bossing you should be doing?”

“That’s what I’m doing.”

“It’s doesn’t count. You’re all bark and no bite when it comes to me.” Jack didn’t have a response to that and you smiled smugly in response. You then stood up and put the guest chair back in front of Jack’s desk in the loudest way possible.

“I’m telling your parents you work for Hyperion,” Jack called across the room as you reached your desk. You whipped around and glared and the smirking brunette.

“You little- you wouldn’t dare,” You huffed angrily.

“Oh I would.” Jack waved his Echo in the air.

He would.

Dammit.

Normally, since he already knew about your abilities, you would totally raise the Echo from his hand and throw it against the wall. However, as previous said, your abilities were practically nonexistent at the moment. So you did the second best thing.

You took off your shoe and threw it at the Echo, cursing as it flew over Jack’s arm completely and hit the way-too-big mirror behind him. Then you took off your other shoe and watched as it sailed across the room and- SMACK!

Fuck.

Jack dropped his echo on the desk and grabbed his nose. Blinking as if what had just occurred hadn’t fully processed yet.

You fucked up.

Jack pulled his hand away and looked blankly at the blood on his fingers, then his gaze dropped to his lap.

You began backpedaling out of the room, eyes wide.

Abort, abort!

Jack lifted up your shoe as he pressed his hand to his nose once more.

Goodbye, shoe.

If you could just get to the elevator-

Jack looked up from your shoe and glared, searching the room for you before seeing you smashing the elevator button at the end of the hall.

“He-y there, kiddo. What’s the rush?” Jack called down the hall, standing from his desk and stalking towards you.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t stalking but he had very long legs and you were currently fearing for your short life. Everything was a bit exavgerated.

You whipped your head between the elevator and Jack for several moments before mashing at the elevator button once more.

“Come on. Come on, you piece of-“ the doors slid open and you could’ve cried as you narrowly avoided tripping over yourself on your haste to get in the elevator and press the button. You glanced out the doors to see Jack with a feral look on his face, only a few feet from you.

A strangled noise came from your throat as you punched at the button, accidently accessing your abilities and breaking the console as the doors finally began to close.

“Come on, cupcake. I’m not gonna-“

“Yes you will!” You shouted, cutting Jack off as He reached the elevator. The doors shut and you collapsed, breathing heavily.

Fuck.

Maybe taking the rest of the day off would be a good idea..

You glanced at the broken buttons nearby, blinking in confusion for a moment. You were too tired to access your Siren abilities so why-

Was Jack really that scary? You thought for a moment before you thought, yes. Yes, he was.

The elevator opened and you mulled over getting up and running away before the elevator closed and inevitably went up to Jack. You wiggled your naked toes and huffed, laying down on your back, hair splayed out around you.

Cold. Feet are cold.

You needed your shoes, even if one of them probably had blood on them now. Nose blood.

Why had you thrown a shoe in Jack’s face?

Cause you couldn’t fucking aim.

You internally kicked yourself as the doors slid closed and the elevator made a rumbling, clunky sound before heading up.

After your inevitable death at the hands of an angry Accountant, you decided you would have to work on fixing your aim. Without your abilities to rely on. It was kind of sad actually. You could probably knock a bird off a branch a couple hundred feet away with your powers, but you couldn’t even throw a tennis ball through a three foot hole ten feet from you.

Okay, bit of a exaggeration but you got the gist. Siren aim, yay. Normal aim, nay.

You moved to sit cross-legged against the side of the elevator, crossing your arms and waiting for the inevitable anger that awaited the other side of the stainless metal doors as the elevator slowed to a stop.

You were at least.. forty percent sure that Jack wouldn’t kill you. Jack disliked killing- you couldn’t say he hated it because he saw the necessity in it and didn’t necessarily frown at it. He liked to keep innocent people safe and punish the people that would hurt them, you noticed he saw everything very black and white, ignoring shades of grey. There were exceptions of course, as there is with everything, but the exceptions were few. You would know, being an exception yourself.

Jack knew you were a Siren, and he knew how dangerous Sirens usually were, and how they were normally more trouble then they’re worth. He probably knew you had killed people before, good and bad, that was a given. Although you doubt he knew just how many people you had killed.

All bark and no bite when it comes to you, remember?

No. You did not remember.

You shook your head, stopping the train of thought and simultaneously preparing as the elevator door opened fully and you were greeted with a very angry and very silly looking Jack. He had your shoe stuffed in his back pocket and a wad of bloody tissues pressed to his equally-bloody nose with a hand on his hip.

Fuck.

You couldn’t help the snicker that left you as you tried to uncross your arms in time to stifle the laughter. You failed, but you did try.

Jack glared at you and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the doors to close then pressing the red ‘STOP’ button so you couldn’t escape, even if you wanted to.

“That was a wee bit unnecessary, but whatever floats your boat, I guess,” You say looking at your naked feet and wiggling your toes. A second later a seemingly very hard object hits the side of your head and you fall over sideways, a bit of an exaggeration of the force, but you didn’t feel like sitting upright anyway. Though you do look kind of silly, legs crossed and up in the air, arms splayed about as you lay sideways on the floor.

You looked over and saw the culprit of the pain- your shoe, and looked up to Jack who had moved to sit cross-legged across from you with a big frown on his face and the wad of tissues still pressed to his nose.

“Sorry about your nose,” You mumbled after a moments silence. You just wanted to destroy his echo, not break his nose. How does that even work.

“I’m prone to nosebleeds, so it’s not too surprising. Although it did pissed me off a bit that you decided to run instead of just apologizing,” Jack responded easily with a shrug of his shoulder. You gave him a look.

At least his nose was fine, you guess.

“Well, you scare me, you’re a scary dude, Jack.” You awkwardly shrugged from your position on the floor and Jack narrowed his eyes.

“Sit straight,” he ordered, looking annoying.

You stuck your tongue out at him, like the adult you were.

“You’re a child,” Jack breathed, shaking his head at you.

“Yeah, well- you have one,” You responded awkwardly, pursing your lips. Jack just perked one of his stupid, annoying little perfect eyebrows and you huffed, fixing yourself upright.

“That was pathetic.”

Yes, you know.

“I can do better, true.” You huffed and looked pointedly at Jack. “You were never really mad right?” You asked softly, fingering your shoe.

It bothered you a little bit that Jack being angry at you bothered you.

“Nope. Just wanted you to apologize, kiddo. You did- terrible apology really, but it was an apology.”

You ran your fingers through your messy hair.

“I’m really tired,” You informed, slumping against the elevator. Jack stood up, pressing the stop button and letting the elevator start back up.

“I got that, you were asleep on the couch earlier,” Jack laughed. You looked at him quizzically.

“What? No I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were. Plus, you’ve been more irritable that usual-“ You cut Jack off as you jumped up.

“I’m not irritable!” You barked, crossing your arms and grumbling under your breath.

“Yeah you are, every day.” You opened your mouth to retort as the elevator slowed to a stop but Jack beat you to it. “Go to sleep, you idiot. I will not let a sleep deprived Siren near my daughter. She wanted you to come over again today and start training her,” Jack explained, a fond smile on his face as he mentioned Angel.   
  
It took you a second to fully process his words and you proceeded to open and close your mouth several times.

Angel wanted you to start training her today? The day after you put the field over her?

Stop.

You were getting ahead of yourself, Angel didn’t know that the field would make it impossible for you to teach her anything since she had no way of accessing your powers. She didn’t know that you had stretched your Siren abilities so thin that you could barely walk to Jack’s(and your) office that morning. She was barely eleven (or was it twelve?) and she didn’t know.

You took a calming breath and turned to Jack.

“When should I head over?” You asked.

No!

You were supposed to say “No”.

Why couldn’t you say no to Jack? Why.

“Around seven sounds good. Now go to sleep, I apparently need to get some engineers up here,” Jack responded, pointedly looking from you to the broken console. You eyed the accidental damage as Jack got up from the floor and offered you a hand up. You huffed and grabbed his hand, telling your fragile pride you only accepted because he was a friend.

“See you then, boss.” You stepped outside the elevator and they began to close behind you.

“Only you could make that sound so condescending,” Jack commented, laughing as the doors fully closed and the elevator began ascending.

You made your way back to your room, ignoring the looks of the other employees, the fond smile on your face and the pep in your step filed down to nothing more than a happiness to spend time with another siren. Though really that was probably the farthest thing from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be up weeks ago, but I kept getting distracted. So here it is, at 3500 words. As a little treat, I'll be posting a short little easter chapter later today or sometime tomorrow! So look forward to that, even if you don't celebrate it, it should be a cute thing for you to read.  
> Mostly just some Angel fluff with reader.


	7. Domestic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You held over to Jack's and end up spending a lot less time with just Angel than you expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, kiddos. I'm a dirty fucking liar, obviously.
> 
> I hope ya'll enjoy the chapter anyway though! Hopefully the humor you all have come to love is still here!

You woke up after a short nap, glaring at your wall. You didn’t bother changing when you collapsed a few hours earlier so you simply re-brushed your hair and slipped on your shoes. The bandits began You checked the clock and found you had almost slept through the proposed meeting time. Of course you didn’t care if you missed it.

Or that’s what you told yourself at least.

You made quick work of leaving your room and making your way to Jack’s room/apartment thing. To be honest, you weren’t completely sure what to call the things.

When you first moved into the space station they had called the rooms ‘dorms’ on the datapad, but you weren’t in school. So, you decided that calling them dorms was the stupidest idea since the blown up pictures of Tassiter and that fat guy who’s name nor importance you could ever remember scattered all over the station.

God who the hell let that happen.

Or, more importantly: why has no one clawed their eyes out yet?

You debated it occasionally yourself, and your self control is legendary.

Well, you tell yourself it is.

Okay your self control is unimportant at this-that is a wall.

You blinked dumbly at the tall solid surface in front of you—you just walked into a fucking wall.

You restrained yourself from punching the wall, as it was an inanimate object that had no influence on you running into it and- you just decided to stop that train of thought and continue on your way to Jack’s place.

In retrospect, you probably should’ve thought up some other reason to being late as you knocked on the door instead of the just going and saying you walked into a wall and had to calm yourself down for several minutes in order not to get into a screaming match with a ridiculous blown up picture of Tassiter.

“Let me get this straight, you're late because you walked into- into a wall?” Jack asked with a raised eyebrow, stifling a laugh. Angel however didn’t try to hide her laughter.

Maybe you should’ve came up with something else to say.

“Yes, I walked into a wall. Get that smirk off your face and let me in, Jack,” You muttered with a frown, pushing the brunette out of your way and walking into his apartment. “Hey, Angel. How was your day, kiddo?” You asked the grinning little Siren.

“Well, it just got a little better,” Angel responded with a stifled laugh. “I can’t believe you ran into a wall,” she added.

“Neither can I, kiddo,” You sighed and shook your head. The door shutting drew your attention and you turned to Jack who had his arms crossed over his chest.

“Hey, sweetheart, can you go to your room for a minute, so we can talk? It’ll only take a sec,” Jack requested gently.

Who was this man and what had he done with your boss?

Now you heard of people changing with kids, but you thought it was bull. Considering your own family.

You wouldn’t necessarily say your family was bad, but your not saying their not.

To be honest with yourself, they’re really just a bunch of assholes.

Distracted.

Again.

Why does your train of thought drift so much?

The world may never know.

Or rather, you don’t care- oh Jack was talking to you.

“-guess I don’t really have a choice, considering I’m not a Siren and I wouldn’t trust another Siren with her anyway,” Jack said plainly, looking to to you for any kind of response.

You did not catch the first half of that statement.

You fucking idiot.

“Uh-huh,” You responded dumbly. Jack sighed.

“I’m just saying, be careful with her, alright? If you aren’t though, I’ll just throw you out an airlock.”

“Your fancy personal airlock isn’t done yet,” You reminded simply.

“There’s other airlocks,” Jack shot back.

“Mm, I suppose that’s true.”

“Suppose all you’d like, I’m getting dinner,” Jack said, walking away, probably to see what Angel wanted.

Someone say food?

You eagerly followed after Jack, smiling for good measure.

Nothing like some food to re-energize a Siren.

As long as it’s not fat based.

That always seem to send you straight to sleep.

Unless it was followed by a salad.

Then it was alright.

Banging of pots sent you back to reality.

“What’s for dinner?” You asked, eyes eager and smile bright.

“I never said I would feed you,” Jack responded without acknowledging you.

“C’mon. Jack! I’ll be your best friend forever!” You begged half heartedly.

Maker, you were a fucking liar.

You were nobody’s best friend.

Best nightmare maybe.

And you were off topic again.

Pay attention.

Idiot.

“If I had known that all I had to do to get on your good side was feed you, I would’ve done it ages ago,” Jack joked. You laughed sarcastically in response.

“That’s true for everyone, I think,” Angel commented, climbing onto a chair at a small table nearby. You eyed the table curiously.

Where the fuck had that come from?

Language.

Mind or not, there is a child right there.  
Or is she just a mini Siren?  
Nope.  
Child.  
Where did half your thoughts even come from?

“That sounds about right,” You commented after a moment. Angel nodded proudly, beaming in your direction. You turned to Jack, watching him break noodles into a pot of water. “It’s not even boiling yet,” You pointed out.

“He knows, he always does that,” Angel helpfully informed.

“Why?” Angel shrugged in response.

“I think I’ll cook however I’d like, thank you very much,” Jack interjected with a scoff. You waved him off with a flick of your wrist, relaxing on the kitchen counter.

“Fine, fine. Wrong spaghetti is better than the junk I’ve been eating any day of the week,” You conceded. Jack looked up from the cutting board he stood at to give you a curious look. You shrugged it off. “My family cooked for me, I never found it important,” You defended.

“I thought all ladies knew how to cook,” Angel interjected.

“That’s what the patriarchy wants you to think, doll.”

“What’s ‘the patriarchy’?”

“Nothing, sweetheart. You-“ Jack looked pointedly away from his daughter and to you. “-shut up.”

“I was joking!” You defended with a sly smile.

“Sure you were,” Jack grumbled. Angel looked curiously between you and her father. THE three of you carried on in a comfortable silence for another few minutes, the sound of chipping echoing through the apartment.

You briefly wondered how many people knew Jack had a kid.

Considering that you didn’t know until you saw the picture- and the fact you prided yourself on knowing all the hot gossip around the station (the claptraps were great for gossip, surprisingly); not that many people knew about Angel.

You dropped the train of thought as you were dragged back into a conversation.

“What do you usually eat?” Angel asked with a tilt of her head.

“Normally, some soft drinks, some sweets, maybe an orange or two, and a frozen pizza or something else equally terrible for me,” You answered after a moment of thought. Angel blinked at you for a moment.

“How are you not dead?” Jack asked incredulously, looking at you with a mixture of angry concern and revulsion. You shrugged.

You wondered yourself most days.

It probably had something to do with being a Siren. It’s not like it was ever scientifically proven that your body processed foods and vitamins the same as a normal human’s body might.

Not that you know anything about biology or genetics, besides the basics of course.

You did computers and art, not science.

At least, not that kind of science.

You never realized you thought so much until you started working with Jack.

Or maybe working with Jack caused it?

Probably not, but you never really know, right?

Wow, you need to stop.

“How’s that program coming along?” Jack breaks the silence, Angel looked over to you, wondering what program her father was talking about.

“The technology interfacing one?” You asked in response, Jack nodded in affirmation. “Well, it’s coming along I suppose. There’s a lot of code to sort out, then I have to test it and see if it can interface with more than just Hyperion tech. Right now, I’d say it’s about fifteen percent done. Only because it can interface with Hyperion tech pretty easily around the station, although it can only override simple commands right now.”

“Technology interfacing?” Angel wondered aloud, looking for explanation.

“It’s essentially an advanced form of hacking that allows total, or at least partially control of systems or tech of varying makes. All remotely, or rather from a satellite. Since it needs to work somehow,” You explained as simply as you could.

“Yes, please tell everyone about the top secret project I have you working on,” Jack commented sarcastically. You rolled your eyes.

“You’re the one who brought it up,” You reminded.

“Whatever, come and get something to eat I guess. Angel, how much do you want?”

“A lot!” Angel eagerly responded. You smiled and pushed off the counter, watching Jack pull down three plates. (A/N: This is so domestic it’s freaking me out).

“Do you have parmesan?” You asked, getting yourself a plate.

“Maybe! I’ll check!” Angel volunteered immediately, practically flying towards the fridge. You raised an eyebrow, but smiled at the kid nonetheless. “Ta-da!” Angel held a block of parmesan cheese up in your face, you gingerly took it from her. “I’ll grab the grater,” Angel added. You nodded, sending a look at Jack, who shrugged it off.

“It’s healthier,” Jack defended.

“Uh-huh,” You said sarcastically as Angel returned with a cheese grater. You accepted the tool. “Thanks, doll.” You got some cheese on your spaghetti.

Actually, a lot of cheese.

Don’t tell Jack.

You went and sat down at the table, followed quickly after by Angel plopping down directly to your left. She shot you a smile and proceeded to dig into her food.

Or twist into it, considering it was spaghetti and normally one would twist the pasta onto their forks to eat it.

Off topic again.

You already knew what she was doing.

Clarifying was useless and unimportant.

“That’s a lot of parmesan there,” Jack commented, pointing at your plate with his fork.

“And you’re a lot of annoying,” You responded in a mocking tone, shoving a fork full of parmesany, tomato goodness.

“I guess I won’t be feeding you from now on then,” Jack shot back ominously.

“What?” You squinted at Jack.

“I decided I would make dinner for you, since you obviously can’t take care of yourself, but I guess you don’t need it.” Jack pointedly ignored your look.

“Jaaaack,” You whined. The brunette continued to ignore you, instead focusing on his meal. “C’mon, buddy, pal, dude, friend-“

“Please stop,” Angel cut in, looking pained. “I can’t eat with noise,” she added, pursing her lip.

“How rude,” You huffed. Jack snorted and shook his head. The three of you finished the meal in relative silence. You finished first, getting a funny look from Jack, followed by Angel.

“Thanks for dinner, dad! May I be excused, please and thank you!” without 2aitng for a response, Angel hopped out of her chair, deposited her and your dishes in the sink, then proceeded to grab your hand and drag you to her room.

“Siren stuff!” Angel cried as she shut her door, launching herself at you with bright eyes.

“Woah, kiddo. I can teach you some stuff to keep your emotions and lack of discipline from affected your abilities, but right now we can’t work on anything else,” You explained, catching the excitable pre-teen.

“Aw, why not?” Angel whined.

“The dampening field I got over you, it keeps you from accessing your abilities, and it was exhausting to put up. Not to mention, it’ll be even more exhausting to remove.” Angel pouted, but nodded in understanding. The two of you talked through some exercises before Angel decided she was exhausted and said goodnight.

You sighed as you closed the door to Angel’s room.

“She’s gone to sleep,” You explained as Jack looked over to you. He nodded and stood up from the couch he was sitting at.

“Thanks for this,” Jack said quietly as he led you to the door.

“Hey, it’s not like I could say no,” You responded easily.

“True. At least you remember who’s in charge, kiddo.”

“Oh shut up, Jackie. Using my word like it’s yours.”

“Whatever you say, sweetcheeks. See you tomorrow.”

“Night, Jackie,” You said sweetly, winking and letting Jack close the door before all but dashing down the hall towards your own apartment thing.

What the actual fuck was that.

Night, Jackie?

With a wink?

Who the fuck were you?

“Way too familiar, way too familiar,” You muttered under your breath, rubbing your temples.

Fucking _Jack_.


	8. Anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader gets a temper and O opens up. A weird little intern makes a extremely breif appearance.
> 
> (Just some stuff to set up for the events of Borderlands. Everything is sort of out of order. This is my attempt to repair the wonky timeline.)

When you got back to your room, you kicked your shoes off your feet and watched as they fly across the room and hit the wall with a small amount of satisfaction before letting yourself fall over the side of your couch and into the cushions.

  
You had thinking to do, quite a bit of it. 

  
First thing, Angel. 

  
Ever since you had been pressured to agree(forced really) to tutor her Siren abilities, it seemed Jack has placed a lot of trust in you, more than he had before. You doubted he ever trusted anybody with the fact he had a daughter in the first place. Besides maybe her mother, obviously.

  
You stared, dazed, at the ceiling.

  
What was Angel’s mom like?

  
Were her and Jack married?

  
Jack didn’t seem like the type of guy who had a wife, so you’d be willing to bet something happened to that relationship. If there was a relationship in the first place.

  
There was Angel, though. There must’ve been something, right?

  
You huffed and rolled onto your side, staring at the cheap little tv you had. Cheap because all your money went into getting yourself a half decent bathroom(and decent it was). 

 

Your thoughts always strayed. Maybe it’s a mental condition?

  
Or maybe you just worried too much..

  
You did tend to worry over everything.

  
You huffed and ran a hand over your face, turning onto your back once more to stare at the ceiling. 

  
You had so many questions with answers that just brought more questions, questions Jack wouldn’t answer or would just quickly change the topic about, ignoring the fact that you even asked. Like the program he had you working on. What use does he have in wanting to be able to interface with tech all over Pandora and it’s moon? What was his ultimate goal, what did he want? Why did he originally make you his PA? You hardly did anything to assist him, someone else set up meetings and such, you just programmed and brought him tea. Well, you trained his daughter too, but that only just started(quite literally).

  
Then there was your entire purpose on the space station in the first place.

  
You didn’t want to live on some cold space station hovering over Pandora or have to pay a fortune just to get necessities from your previous home, but you worked for Hyperion and the boss decided he wanted you working on Helios. So on Helios you were. You knew why you were wanted on Helios, and it definitely was not to be the PA to one bothersome individual who went by the name of Jack.   
  


Now that you thought about it, it should've been impossible for Jack to hire you as his PA. Your job was technically a cover for your work on Helios, but Jack burst your safe little bubble and gave you a ‘desk job’ for a time. Though, Jack really only gave you a desk job to drive you to the point to do anything to get a different job, which in this case was becoming his assistant.

 

You want to trust Jack, you really do, but you can’t help but feel that he has an ulterior motive for hiring you. Logically, you knew you couldn’t trust him, but you felt like you  _ had  _ to trust him. You could say it was one of your ‘Siren’ things. You somehow just  _ knew  _ that trusting him would play a big part in your future. You’d had a similar feeling when you were first approached by Hyperion back on your home planet and you’d ended up working for Hyperion at the age of fifteen. Then another time when you knew that your sister would be attacked by a group of bandits on her way home from work when you were sixteen and you ended up saving her life, not that she was particularly grateful about it. Of course she was never grateful for anything. 

 

Back to the task at hand, sorting out your thoughts(or attempting to at the very least).

 

Angel was a siren. So, for all intents and purposes, you should’ve sensed her the moment you got on the space station. Which means, she either unconsciously barriers her presence or she isn’t on the space station enough to leave any permanent ‘feeling’. Of course both possibilities raise questions, cause nothing about your life is easy.

 

You are supposed to train Angel, but it’s not like you were a expert or anything. Your ‘training’ would basically consist of teaching her techniques you had learned to make work for you, random bits of information you had gathered with all your traveling, and how to access her own powers. Of course, most of said training would be helping Angel figure out her own powers, because if there was one thing you had learned over the years, it was that every Siren in existence was completely unique from the next, from the tattoos to the abilities. For example, most Sirens used their powers offensively, while you could only really do defensive stuff. You could also use it to help your aim or cushion your fall and.. other things, but you could not actively attack someone with your abilities.

 

You were willing to bet Angel could though.

 

Actually, on second thought..

 

“Why is everything so difficult?” You complain out loud to no one in particular, resting your arm over your eyes. Before you could continue to try and sort through the chaos that was your thought process, a knock on the door got your attention. You raised an eyebrow when the knocking continued. “Who is it?” 

 

“It’s O!” A chipper voice responded through the door. You got up off the couch and opened your door, immediately swarmed by about a dozen CL4P-TP units, O at the head of the group. They all greeted you in various ways at the same time.

 

“Hey guys, what’re you doing here?” You didn’t mind their company, as much as you would have hated it if they were human. 

 

“We’re hiding!” A blue unit said, locking your door. 

 

Wait, what?

 

“Who are you hiding from?” You asked, moving to sit down on the couch, the small mob of CL4P-TP units following you. Three of them joined you on the couch and three more bunched together on your cheap loveseat, the rest of them just sat on the floor.

 

“Some engineers!” O was quick to inform you. You sighed.

 

“What did you do?”

 

“We may or may not have destroyed several production lines!” 

 

There aren’t that many production lines to begin with.

 

“You destroyed all of them, didn’t you?” 

 

“Yes, we did!”

 

Just. How.

 

“How?”

 

“That would be Y’s fault!” 

 

“She loved me..” A pink CL4P-TP said with the units equivalent of sadness, which was just holding his clasps over his eye followed by loud synthetic sobbing.

 

“‘She’ was the main control panel in the production room!” O helpfully supplied.

 

Why.

 

“Well, that’s their fault for letting you onto the floor in the first place, not your fault,” You told them. 

 

Which was a complete, outright lie.

 

You couldn’t tell them that though, you had to protect your kids.

 

If you say it’s the engineer’s fault, then it’s the engineer's fault.

 

Several of the CL4P-TP units cheered in agreement. You shook your head with a fond smile. 

 

“Will you talk to them for us?” O asked with a hopeful look, pulling on your sleeve.

 

No, you got yourselves into it, you can get yourselves out of it.

 

“Sure,” You said.

No!

 

… Why does this keep happening to you?

 

It happens a lot now that you think about it, maybe it’s just to give you something to do?

 

You usually just stay home when you're off work and that’s not interesting at all.

 

Or maybe you just can't say no.

 

Probably the latter.

 

A collection of cheers interrupted your thoughts as a dozen midget robots ushered you out of your apartment, completely uncaring of your lack of footwear, and down the hall.

 

“Woah guys-” You were interrupted by a tall blonde in a lab coat.

 

“Of course they would be with  _ you _ ,” The blonde said with a frown.

 

“I forgot you were head of Tech production on Helios, Alexie.” 

 

“Alexander, please,” Alexander corrected, grumpily fixing his glasses. You only smiled, Alexander was someone who was recruited by Hyperion around the same time you were, only he was twenty-seven at the time and you were only fifteen. He was always sore about that, and would always remember that fact when he saw you, which you made sure happened once a day back when you first started. It only lasted for about two years before he was transferred and you became a fulltime employee, moving away from home.

 

“Nope, I like Alexie better. It suits your childish face.” You forgot how much you loved to tease Alexander when you were younger, but it came back to you quite quickly. You shook your head. “Sorry, that’s not- Sorry. I’m with them because I need to talk to you about what they did.”

 

“Are you apologizing for them?” Alexander looked confused.

 

“Nope, I'm defending them.” Alexander immediately frowned.

 

“There is no defending them. They need to be held responsible for the damage they caused,” Alexander said. You pretended to think about his point with a hum.

 

“Hmm. I think not.” Alexander was ready to open his mouth again but you silenced him by putting your hand in front of his face. “Let me explain, kiddo. While it is true that they got into some trouble, your engineers are their enablers. By letting them into engineering in the first place even knowing exactly what they would end up doing unsupervised.” Alexander looked like he was ready to start defending himself, but ended up turning to stomp away with a few muttered words. “We’ll have to catch up sometime, Alexie!” You could’ve sworn you saw Alexander shiver, but that must’ve been your imagination, right?

 

“Yay! Thank you!” O said, tugging on your clothes once more to get your attention.

 

The claptrap units really were like children sometimes.

 

“It’s no problem, O. You know I’m here for you guys whenever,” You said with a fond smile, before stretching with a sigh. “I’m assuming that’s all you guys needed from me?” A chorus of mechanized ‘yes’s responded immediately. You hummed in thought for several moments. “Poker?” The same response repeated several times.

 

Ah, claptraps. The gambling children you never wanted.

 

You loved them though. Probably because you essentially created some of them, like O. You say essentially but in reality, aside from the chassis, O was entirely your work. You fondly remembered the day you first ran O’s program, and how their immediate reaction was to run into a wall. They were one of the first AI’s you had programmed and you loved them to pieces.

 

“Five of a kind!”

 

“There’s only four aces, and only two are on the table.”

 

“Right..”

 

You loved your CL4P-TPs.

 

**

 

You were pointedly ignoring another finger gun fight between some of the accountants when you first heard the news. It was just another rumor on the rumor mill but you had quite a few reasons for it to possibly be true. You ignored the possibility at first, but then you heard the rumor at least five more times and it became pretty clear that it was more than a rumor. 

 

So, about twenty minutes into your daily ‘walk around and fuck with coworkers’ routine, you turned around to head to Jack’s office. 

 

“What’s this I’m hearing about you sending a construction crew onto Pandora?” You questioned as you walked in, straight up to Jack. Jack looked up from his work with a confused expression for a minute until what you asked fully processed.

 

“Oh, that.”

 

“Yes,  _ that _ .”

 

Deja vu.

 

“It’s for Angel, technically, and something else.” You waited for him to elaborate.

 

He did not elaborate.

 

“What ‘something else’?” 

 

“I’ll tell you when the ‘something else’ is ready, cupcake. Okay?” You really wanted to say no and force the answer out of him since you knew you were one of like two people that could probably force Jack to do anything.

 

“Alright.”

 

Fucking-

 

“Just tell me what you’re building at least?” You requested, sitting down in front of him, letting him know you wouldn’t be leaving his side without an answer.

 

“A top security Hyperion compound,” Jack replied far too easily. 

 

 What.

 

“A top secret-? Jack what the fuck. You’re always building unnecessary shit that we have literally zero uses for. I understand a house or something to keep Angel safe, but a fucking  _ top secret Hyperion compound? _ ”

 

_ Why _ .

 

“It's for security reasons, cupcake.”

 

Security reasons he says.

 

_ Security reasons _ .

 

Fucking  _ security _ reasons.

 

“That quite literally explains absolutely nothing, Jack,” You pointed out, crossing your arms. Jack sighed, stretching in his chair. 

 

“You’re making this difficult for me, cupcake.”

 

“No, you’re making this difficult for yourself. Why do you need a secret Hyperion compound on Pandora, Jack? For what possible reason?” 

“There’s a.. lucrative opportunity..” Jack was obviously having a hard time telling you the reason, telling you that it was probably something he thought you wouldn’t like. Of course he just made you want to know even more. You gestured for him to elaborate and it took him a minute to finally concede with a loud sigh. “I want to open a vault on Pandora.”

 

You face planted into the floor.

 

Considering the fact you were sitting back in a chair, you’re not completely sure how you managed it, but you did.

 

Judging from the blood now leaking out of your nose, anyway.

 

You might’ve hit the desk, actually.

 

Either way, you were on the floor now.

 

“What the fuck did you just say?” Your voice was nasally and squeaky since you were covering your nose. 

 

“I’m pretty sure you heard me, kiddo.” You were quick to your feet, all but towering over the brunette.

 

Which was pretty impressive given he was almost a foot taller than you at 5’11 compared to your 5’1. 

 

Of course he was sitting down.

 

Actually, sitting or not that point goes to you.

 

Do you keep points now? 

 

Apparently.

 

Wait.

 

What did you get a point for?

 

Oh right, standing ominously over Jack.

 

“Jack, you have no idea what opening a Vault will do,” You growled in the lowest voice you could muster, considering you still had your hand over your nose.

 

“I know it’ll spread eridium all over Pandora and make me rich,” Jack retorted. You narrowed your eyes at him.

 

“Jack, the repercussions to opening a Vault spread farther than the planet, it affects  _ everything _ .”

 

“Listen, cupcake-”

 

“No,  _ you _ listen,  _ kiddo _ . I don’t think you fully understand quite how disastrous opening a Vault can be.”

 

“Oh, and you do?” 

 

“Ye-” You paused.

 

Did you?

 

You had no prior knowledge of opening a vault but… it was another one of those feelings you had.

 

The thought of Jack opening a vault made you feel sick and so,  _ so  _ angry.

 

You didn’t know why.

 

“That’s what I thought, sweetheart. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a meeting to get to,” Jack said, escaping before you could stop him. You groaned and pulled at your hair, momentarily forgetting about your nose bleeding before it ended up staining your shirt.  You grumbled and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on your desk before making your way to the elevator.

 

O greeted you at the bottom of the Elevator with a mug of tea.

 

“Hello!” The chorus of a dozen CL4P-TP units greeted you at once, and you noticed subtle looks of annoyance from your coworkers.

 

“Hey guys,” You greeted in turn, walking past the small mob of robots, knowing they would follow, and making your way to the other elevators to head to the employee quarters, ignoring the looks from your coworkers as they noticed your bloody nose.

 

“Um, excuse me.” You paused to see a timid looking guy awkwardly clutching several folders to his chest. 

 

“Can I help you?” You kept the tissues pressed to your nose, your care for public appearances falling to a negative thirty probably. 

 

“I-uh, I have a r-report for you,” The brunette stuttered. You recognized the awkward boy as an intern that was recently hired.You think he came with a group of about twenty a few weeks ago, from different planets. You reached for the report and the brunette all but shoved it into your grasp. You leafed through the papers in the manilla folder before looking up at the brunette who looked desperate to get away.

 

“You’re an intern, right?” He nodded quickly in response. 

 

Ah, suspicions confirmed.

 

  “What’s your name?” You casually(or as casually s you could at the moment) asked, handing the report to a claptrap who eagerly held it for you, knowing full well you might never see the report again. The intern’s eyes widened for a split second when he noticed your pack of CL4P-TPs before his focus returned to you.

 

“Ah, my n-name’s Rhys, ma’am.” You snorted.

 

Talk about eager to please.

 

“Don’t call me that, anything but that, kiddo.” You noticed his eyes lit up for a split second when you said ‘kiddo’.

 

That’s weird.

 

Why would someone-

 

“Isn’t that something Jack says? Do you work with him?” You nearly face planted into the floor again.

 

You know he’s the boss of everyone in the station technically, but why does this kid look like he’s about five minutes away from revering him?

 

You have half a mind to tell him you're a Siren and throw him across the station, see who he revers after  _ that _ .

 

Probably no one.

 

He’d probably be dead, or dying.

 

Also, ‘kiddo’ is  _ your  _ word.

 

“It’s something we both say and why do you want to know?” You were quick to hide any anger lest the poor intern piss himself. He was practically shaking before, but you’re pretty sure he looks like he’s about to jump for joy.

 

“You’re his PA aren’t you?” Rhys amended, clearly remembering that little detail as soon as you responded. You gave a heavy sigh.

 

“Yes, yes. Unfortunately, I am. Look, kiddo. I’d love to talk more, but I’m feeling pretty light headed so, I’ll see you ‘round. Okay? Okay.” You walked away before Rhys could respond, your mini mob of CL4P-TPs following behind dutifully. A red one happily waving your report around. You shook your head.

 

“Do you want your tea?” O asked, wheeling up to you. You took the offered mug before he could crash and break it. Cause that had a almost a ninety percent possibility of happening.

 

You turned down a hall.

 

“Thanks you guys,” You said,obviously not very loud. Your coworkers couldn’t start thinking you were nice and talk to you after all.

 

You hate human interaction with people you don’t like.

 

Safe to say you don’t like 98% of the people on Helios.

 

People just rub you the wrong way.

 

You think you have a pretty good reason for it but most people would probably just call it a stupid reason.

 

You ended up walking a few more minutes in your own thoughts before you were interrupted.

 

“Where are we going?” A blue CL4P-TP unit asked, close behind O.

 

A good question,  _ where are you going? _

 

You had originally planned on heading to the elevators then going to your room, but you had passed the elevators not too long ago and didn’t plan on turning around.

 

“I don’t know, somewhere?” You said, halfheartedly shrugging.

 

You just needed to walk off your anger.

 

Or maybe work it off.

 

There was a gym on one of the floors that you had been to a few times.

 

Of course, the claptraps aren’t allowed in there anymore after a rather unfortunate incident involving a treadmill.

 

You weren’t really thinking about where you wanted to go.

 

You ended up finding yourself in a semi-dusty room with a big window.

 

It was pretty obvious the room wasn’t used a lot. Which would make sense, considering most employees on the station were skittish as anything and kept themselves to the halls and rooms they knew for a fact they were allowed in and usually didn’t deviate. Not to mention most of them either didn’t have free time, or used their free time to ‘hang’ with their friends, or get in contact with friends or loved ones from the planet they left behind to move to the space station orbiting Pandora. The space station wasn’t even that big of course, the number of employees was only around a thousand or so, then fifty percent of those employees were maintenence or engineers.

 

You really couldn’t wrap your head around the reason for the space station besides acting as an in-between for employees between Pandora, Helios, and maybe Pandora’s moon, Elpis. Although you couldn’t really understand why. There wasn’t really any bases of operation on either planet. Some of the other planets in the system maybe. 

 

You ended up sitting down in front of the window, guessing it stood at maybe fourteen or fifteen feet high, the same across. It took up the entire wall of the room. It was a very cold room and obviously hadn’t seen maintenence in a long time, it looked rather abandoned actually. There were three or four small tables with four or five plush looking stools underneath of them. You disregarded the seats and instead sat about a foot from the glass with your mug.

 

You vaguely heard the CL4P-TP units little cheers of surprise and following scuffle as they sat at the tables, quick to start a card game and a conversation you didn’t follow. You tuned out the commotion and focused on the planets and stars that lay beyond the glass. There weren’t a lot of windows in the space station so the fact you were technically just floating in the middle of space often slipped your mind.

 

At some point your nose stopped bleeding and you shoved the tissues into your already ruined shirt pocket. 

 

You weren’t about to litter in the space station after all.

 

You weren’t sure how long you spent just staring out the window but you heard the CL4P-TP units leaving in a clamor at some point after they all shouted goodbye in unison. 

 

“Hello.” Maybe not all of them.

 

You turned your head, placing your now empty mug on the floor beside you as you did.

 

“Hey, O. I assumed you left with the others,” You said. The blue CL4P-TP unit settled next to you.

 

“I don’t really have anything to do like they do,” O responded. Unlike the other units, you programmed O’s personality to be more  _ complicated _ . They were the first AI you ever programmed and you still updated their code every now and then. O’s voice was able to change based on their ‘emotions’ unlike the other CL4P-TPs. Not to mention their voice was deeper than the other units, leaning more towards a ‘male’ voice. Although you still tried not to assign genders to the units.

 

“Oh, yeah. You’re not technically an employee, are you?” You heard a somber ‘yeah’ in response to your question. “You don’t feel like you fit in with them, do you?”

 

“Not really, I know I’m a more advanced AI than them, but  _ they  _ don’t know that,” O said with the robotic equivalent to a sigh. Which was just the noise without the exhale of breath or air of any kind. 

 

Maybe you shouldn’t have programmed him so well?

 

No.

 

There was a reason you put so much effort into O. They were the most human CL4P-TP there was and they were probably one of your only ‘friends’. As much as one’s own creation can be a friend. You were selfish with O, you made them on your own and neglected to actually file them into Hyperion’s database. They looked like any other CL4P-TP unit except they were entirely blue and underneath their chassis they were built completely different from any other unit. 

 

“I could make another unit like you, if you’d like? I’ve been working on a new algorithm for an AI, so I could probably get it done in a few months. It might take longer since I don’t work on the Robotics floor anymore though.” O’s eye brightened considerably as they turned to you.

 

“Really? Like me?” O’s voice raised several pitches, mimicking ‘excitement’. You nodded.

 

“Similar to you, they wouldn’t be  _ exactly  _ like you,” You clarified.

 

“That would be awesome!” You laughed at the bot’s enthusiasm. 

 

“Don’t get too excited too quickly, it’ll take a while and they might not be what you picture, so try not to overthink, okay?” 

 

“Okay, okay! I can do that!” You wondered how much time has passed since you had left the office in anger.

 

Maybe Jack was back already?

 

You weren’t sure you could deal with Jack much more today, though.

 

You couldn’t understand your anger, but that didn’t mean you didn’t feel it.

 

Seeing a reflection of yourself in the glass, you noticed the decent amount of dried blood around your nose.

 

It would seem you completely forgot about your original purpose in leaving your(and Jack’s) office.

 

With a sigh, you grabbed the mug from beside you and got up from the floor.

 

“Alright, I think I should do something besides staring into the void.” 

 

Like cleaning off the blood on your face and changing out of your blood stained shirt.

 

You ran your hand over your face before gesturing to the door so O could go ahead of you. O left the room before you with a hum and you followed behind him.

 

You and O made a stop by your room, where you put your hair up and took a quick shower. You ended up just throwing on a tank-top, some sweatpants, and an oversized sweater.

 

Space stations were cold.

 

You ended up leaving O on the elevator to the Office. It was annoying calling it Jack’s office, or your office, or both of your offices. So, the Office it is. 

 

There was nobody in the Office when you entered, not even a claptrap on the computers. You thought it was a bit strange, but really it’s not as if the Claptraps didn’t stop a task half way to run off and play cards or something everyday. It was a bit strange that Jack wasn’t present, but you supposed as the head of the space station, he probably had work to do. When you thought about it, it was really uncommon for him to just disappear for hours at a time, of course it was uncommon for you too.

 

Oh  _ shit _ .

 

You forgot about that report.

 

The one you got from that weird kid who seemed to be a little obsessed with Jack.

 

It seemed important.

 

You shrugged as you moved to sit in front of your desk.

 

Oh well.

 

The claptrap had probably lost it or ruined it beyond repair at this point anyway.

 

The Office was dreadfully quiet, the only sound you could hear was the heater whirring away and the occasional beep from a computer. It seemed a bit surreal. The room never seemed so quiet when Jack was about, even though that shouldn’t have made a difference. You narrowed your eyes at Jack’s desk before looking away. Feeling a bit lost, you turned on your computer and opened up your unfinished programming. 

 

Might as well do something useful.

 

You ended up falling asleep on your couch after working on the program for a few hours. You had half a mind to go back to your apartment and just end the work day, but there was always a chance of Jack returning so you decided to stay in the Office.

 

“What are you doing.” A voice caught your attention, but it took you a moment to figure out what they had said, since it sounded more like a statement than a question. You rubbed at your eyes and blinked a few times at the fuzzy being in your vision, one of your eyes focused while the other did not. So, you were currently looking out one eye while keeping the other closed.

 

“It’s been a weird day,” You said to person who you recognized as Angel as your vision eventually fixed itself.

 

“That didn't answer my question,” Angel responded immediately. “Why are you in here, anyway?” Angel tilted her head as she asked the question, mimicking a small dog while simultaneously narrowing her eyes.

 

Like she knew you didn't have a good answer.

 

She was too smart for her own good, really.

 

“You still haven't answered  _ my _ question.” You sighed and pushed yourself to a sitting position.

 

“Well, I was doing work for several hours, but then I fell asleep,” You explained with several exaggerated hand gestures.

 

“That explains why you were asleep, I guess. Though it doesn't explain why your shoes are on the other side of the room.” Angel bounced on her heels, hands clasped behind her back as she waited for your explanation.

 

Your eyes trailed down to your feet, blinking in realization as you wiggled your toes.

 

Woah.

 

Your shoes are gone.

 

You looked around the room rapidly before spotting the offenders. 

 

Huh.

 

One was actually embedded in the wall by the heel. It wasn't even a pointed heel, you were wearing boots of all things. 

 

You certainly don't see that everyday.

 

You turned back to Angel as she looked at you expectantly.

 

“I have literally no idea how that happened,” You responded, followed by a yawn. “Actually, it was probably caused by anger or something. Siren stuff reacts to emotions sometimes. It sucks pretty bad.” Though you weren't sure what you were angry about.

 

Probably Jack, honestly.

 

Actually it was most definitely Jack.

 

“You're really strange,” Angel commented as she moved to sit down next to you. You only sighed in response. “Anywho, as to why I'm here..” You looked to Angel as she trailed off.

 

Please don't say you snuck out or something..

 

“I snuck out of the apartment since dad had to go down to Pandora for something,” Angel explained, looking around the room.

 

Damn it.

 

You really didn't care that she snuck out, that apartment probably gets super boring.

 

You just wished she hadn't dragged you into it.

 

You were probably gonna be blamed for this.

 

Oh well.

 

“Wanna go mess with some people?” You asked chipperly.

 

If you're doing this, you're going for it a hundred and ten percent.

 

“Is that what you usually do all day?” You bobbed your head in confirmation. “Okay, then.” You smield and hopped to your feet and pulled Angel to her own.

 

“Let's hop to it then, doll.” You were maybe too excited for this.

 

“Can we go see the manufacturing floor?”

 

“Hell  _ yes _ .”

 

“That's a bad word.”

 

“Than you know better than to repeat it, don't you?” With that, the pair of you got to the elevator and made your way to the elevator.

 

Foregoing your shoes, you took off your socks on the elevator and threw them in the corner.

 

Angel wrinkled her nose. “That's gross.”

 

“Eh, I'll pick them up later,” You said in response with a shrug. The elevator opened with a ding and you whisked Angel onto your back. “Let's go mess with stuff!”

 

You ignored the several quiet “oh no”s and merrily went on your way. Angel however, did not ignore the reactions of your coworkers.

 

“They don't seem to like you very much,” Angel commented, arms wrapped around your neck to keep herself up.

 

“Yeah, well they suck,” You responded immediately, readjusting Angel on your back.

 

Time to fuck shit up.

 

With Jack's daughter.

 

Your new Siren buddy.

  
_ Weird. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time: The start of some bullshit
> 
> (Happy Easter those who celebrate it! I finally updated! And i should actually have something resembling an update schedule soon. Don't worry, this fic won't die for some time yet!
> 
> (5000 > A shitty apology for not updating in almost a year) Yayyyy.)


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